Solution of modern policy problems
PESHAWAR
The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has set up Pakistan’s first “Behavioral Insights Unit” , the Finance Department with an aim to change the way in which policy issues are defined, approached and resolved by the government.
Provincial Minister for Finance Taimur Salim Jhagra said here Wednesday that policymakers often encounter implementation problems that lead to suboptimal results for government and also for citizens as entrepreneurs, taxpayers, investors, homeowners, motor vehicle operators or consumers of public and private goods.
He said that in KP, the Unit will initially focus on improving revenue mobilization for the provincial Government, where behavioral tools and ‘nudges’ have proven to be particularly successful in other countries.
He said the Government of KP has set up Pakistan’s first Behavioral Insights Unit, joining governments in UK, US, Peru, Singapore, Qatar, and many other countries around the world, which are leveraging behavioral science tools for cost-effective, citizen-centered, and easily implementable solutions to modern policy problems.
“The public finance management focus of the new BIU makes it the first of its kind not only in Pakistan, but the global South”, remarked Taimur Jhagra, who was one of the earliest supporters of the idea.
The B4Development Foundation established by Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy would support the unit.
