KARACHI: Nearly half of Pakistani businessmen believe the country is moving in the right direction, a Gallup Pakistan survey published on Monday showed, with sentiment climbing to its highest level since late 2021 amid signs of political and economic stabilization.
The “direction of country” score — the percentage of respondents who think Pakistan is on the right track minus those who think it is headed the wrong way — rose 62 points in the second quarter of 2025 to –2 percent from –64 percent a year earlier, according to the Gallup survey, whose results are based on interviews with 524 businesses in the manufacturing, services and trade sectors conducted between July 23 and 27.
The improvement comes after Pakistan secured a $7 billion IMF bailout in September 2024 to avert a sovereign default and began implementing fiscal and structural reforms aimed at stabilizing its crisis-hit economy.
“46 percent of businessmen rated the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government’s management of the economy as better than its predecessor, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), compared to just 24 percent a year ago,” the Gallup report said.
“While the score remains marginally negative, it marks the highest level of confidence in national direction since Q4 2021,” it added. “This uptick suggests a moderate easing of political and economic uncertainty from the perspective of the business community.”
