WASHINGTON – Pakistan’s hard-won poverty reductions are at risk of slipping away, and instability looms as costly climate disasters and a weak economy are impoverishing more people, with little, if any, respite in sight.

The deteriorating economic picture is a major concern for the country’s 250 million people, of whom 67 per cent are under the age of 30, according to government figures. And the economy has become dependent on aid and loans, including from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).