Context: On July 26, 2019, Mr. Asad Umar, MNA and Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs delivered a talk at the Karachi School of Business & Leadership. In his speech, he shed light on the plausible measures taken by the PTI government to improve Pakistan’s economy. While comparing Pakistan’s savings to GDP ratio to other countries in the region, Mr. Umar claimed that Pakistan was at a staggering 1o% last year. 

Claim: India, Bangladesh, Vietnam – all have savings at 30% of GDP. Last year [2018], we [Pakistan] were at 10%.

Claimant: Mr. Asad Umar, MNA, Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs

Source of Claim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wLQaHqudzU (starts at 35:10)

Status: False

Sources:

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNS.ICTR.ZS?most_recent_value_desc=false World Bank’s most recent national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files

Report/Ruling: As of 2018, Pakistan’s savings to GDP stands at 19%.