IN PAKISTAN, the wealthiest 10 per cent hold 42pc of the national income — lower than the average across major Asian economies, but still enough to create massive inequalities that make it impossible to build fair or sustainable societies.

This is one of the findings of an Oxfam report, highlighting uneven patterns of economic growth driven by widening wealth disparity, climate change and the digital divide.

Titled An Unequal Future: Asia’s Struggle for Justice in a Warming, Wired World, the report makes for grim reading: the richest 10pc capture 60-77pc of national income, while the poorest 50pc receive only 12-15pc; and the top 1pc own nearly half the wealth.

The report points out that in the past decade, the fortunes of Asian billionaires have more than doubled, whereas the poorest half of the population in countries like China, India, Indonesia, and Korea, saw their share of income decline.

Oxfam report sees elite capture of wealth & income, climate crisis and digital divide as major challenges facing Asian nations

“The income share of the poorest 50pc has declined in almost all countries except Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. The........

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