FM Aurangzeb warns of existential threat from population, climate crisis

July 15, 2026 (MLN): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb cautioned that Pakistan's long-term prospects could be seriously compromised unless rapid population growth and climate change are tackled, calling both existential threats that demand consistent policy reform, coordination across institutions and sustained financing.

Speaking at the World Population Day 2026 commemorative conference on Wednesday, the minister noted that government efforts had progressed from the National Population Stabilisation Plan to the newly formed National Population Council, which brings together civil and military leadership alongside provincial governments and the federation for coordinated implementation.

He remarked that the "what" and "why" of the population challenge had long been understood, but the real difficulty lay in determining the "how" and the "who."

The council, he said, was designed to translate this understanding into results through defined targets, Key Performance Indicators and periodic reviews, stressing that progress could only be tracked if it was first measured.

The minister observed that budget-making tends to prioritise short-term concerns, even though population growth and climate change require a longer planning horizon.

Failure to confront these two challenges, he cautioned, would leave Pakistan short of its true potential by 2047, when the country marks a century since independence.

On recent policy steps, Finance minister Aurangzeb pointed to the removal of sales tax on contraceptives in the federal budget, describing it as a targeted intervention expected to boost affordability and generate benefits even in the near term.

He added that tactical measures alone would not suffice, and that structural reform was equally necessary  particularly around the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, where population presently determines roughly 82% of how resources are distributed among the provinces.

 Calling this formula unsustainable, he said its population-based weighting would need reconsideration in upcoming NFC negotiations.

Turning to financing, the minister said fiscal resources from the budget alone could not carry the burden. He cited the World Bank's 10-year Country Partnership Framework, signed the previous year, which lists population among its three core pillars, with particular attention to reducing learning poverty  especially among girls out of school  and addressing child stunting.

He estimated that $600 million to $700 million could be made available annually under this framework for population-focused interventions.

Finance minister Aurangzeb further praised the nationwide birth-spacing (Waqfa) awareness campaign as "absolutely brilliant" and credited the media for helping shift public attitudes on the issue.

Recounting a recent trip to Karachi, he mentioned visiting a girls' school supported by Shehzad Roy's Zindagi Trust, reinforcing his emphasis on girls' education.

Citing the experiences of Bangladesh, Iran and Indonesia, the minister said each country managed to bring population growth down to roughly 1% over a 10-to-15-year period by prioritising girls' education, expanding women's participation in the workforce and enlisting the backing of religious scholars.

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