ISLAMABAD - In an apparent move to hush up the matter pertaining to actual poverty figures, the government has been avoiding conducting poverty survey in the country for the last six years, as it has only entangled the nation in figure fudging. It is testimony of the fact that even this year in its Economic Survey 2010-11, the incumbent government failed to provide the actual figures in the prevailing poverty situation of the country. Due to the unknown reasons, the government did not bother to conduct survey, which could reveal the latest poverty situation of the country. Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masud on a question informed that the government had not possessed the latest poverty figures. Quoting the figures of year 2005-06, he said, poverty figures were around 23 per cent. Asian Development Banks recently issued a study on Global Food Price Inflation and Developing Asia, that maintains 10 per cent rise in domestic food prices in Pakistan for one year could push an additional 3.47 million people below the $ 1.25-a-day poverty line or worsen poverty situation by 2.2 percentage points. Global food prices rose by over 30 per cent year-on-year between March 2010 and March 2011 with serious consequences for the poor, as they are very sensitive to these items. Food inflation in Pakistan has averaged 18 per cent for the last four years, which implies significant deterioration of purchasing power of the poor. The precise impact of this build up in prices could not be determined until availability of results of the Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) component of Pakistan Social & Living Standard Measurement (PSLM) survey 2010-11 the work on which has already started. According to the Economic Survey, given the multiple deprivation, there are serious challenges for policy makers to lift million out of poverty, because the decline in percentage of people living below poverty line is not associated with the absolute number of people living under the condition of poverty. Poverty and inequality can be reduced by addressing the failures or deprivation in many dimensions of human life including hunger, ill health, malnutrition, unemployment, inadequate shelter, lack of education, vulnerability, power less ness, social exclusion and so on. The Government prioritised the 17 pro poor sectors through the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) from 2008-09 to 2010-11 in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP-II). The MTEF provides a link between policy priorities and budget realities. Fiscal Responsibilities and Debt Limitation Act, 2005 stipulates that expenditures on social and poverty related spending would not be less than 4.5 per cent of GDP in any given year. An amount of Rs 482.6 has been spent on these areas during July-December 2010, which is 15.8 per cent higher than in the comparable period of last year. Economic Survey further said that change in poverty headcount is strongly correlated with change in per capita GDP growth. An analysis of three year moving average of changes in per capita income and commensurate impact on reduction in poverty headcounts suggests that large reductions in poverty headcount are associated with macroeconomic stability, financial discipline and sound policies is required.