DHANGADHI: Minister for Financial Affairs and Planning of Province 7, Jhapat Bohora has presented the white paper in the province assembly on Sunday.

The paper issued in the meeting depicts a gloomy picture of the province’s economy.

While presenting the 77-point-paper, Minister Bohora said that the statistics shown by the document portrayed reality facing the province.

According to the statistics, 33.56 per cent population live below poverty in the region and the province has a human development index of 0.540. Moreover, the district with highest poverty, Bajura, falls in the province.

During the fiscal 2016/17 the province contributed 1.14 per cent to the total revenue and saw 5.4 per cent of total public expenditure of the economy hinting at its inability to recoup the expenses through earnings.

Likewise, out of the 88 local levels of the province only 34 have housed commercial banks.

Similarly, the white paper states that the social security of the region is in a pitiful state while mounting challenges such as child violence, domestic violence, child participation in crime and others pose a threat to child development.

Apart from mentioning the problems facing the province, the document has also suggested future course of action based on maximum utilization of resources by public and private sector.