Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) is a policy research institute registered as a nonprofit limited company in Pakistan. Focusing on issues of poverty and inequality, governance, gender, climate and pro-poor macro-economic policy, it contributes to the national goal of social development through research, policy advice and advocacy. Established in 1995, SPDC has made significant intellectual contribution in placing issues of pro-poor growth and social development on Pakistan's policy-making agenda. With its headquarters based in Karachi, SPDC has recently established its outreach office in Islamabad.
Read More
Pakistan stands at a critical crossroads, poised to make a significant leap into the digital era. The 'URAAN Pakistan–National Economic Transformation Plan (2024-2029)' articulates a clear and ambitious national vision: to drive sustainable economic growth, foster human development, and position Pakistan as a competitive force in the global economy. ...
2025-07-28 |
Pakistan faces an ongoing debate regarding the illicit tobacco trade. Tobacco industry leaders assert that high taxes promote illegal trade because of insufficient tax enforcement. This argument has persistently been used to make a case for reducing the excise tax rate on cigarettes. This controversy has intensified during the last few months, after a retailers’ survey report1 was launched in February 2025. ...
2025-07-17 |
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE BA-HIMMAT BUZURG PROGRAMME - 2024 ...
2025-06-26 | Research Report
POLICY BRIEF - AN ASSESSMENT OF THE BA-HIMMAT BUZURG PROGRAMME - 2024 ...
2025-06-26 |
The government of Pakistan has been making consistent efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit over the past few years, with taxation playing a central role in its broader fiscal strategy. Resource mobilization through improved tax collection and policy reforms has been emphasized as a means to ensure sustainable public financing. However, the absence of progress on tobacco taxation stands out as a major shortcoming. ...
2025-06-23 |
The Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) is funded by the Economics for Health team (formerly Tobacconomics) at Johns Hopkins University (previously housed at University of Illinois Chicago, or UIC) to conduct economic research on tobacco taxation. JHU is a partner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies' Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use. SPDC also provides technical assistance to Research Reports/Working Papers An Analysis of the Tobacco Market in Jordan: A Household Survey [202 ...
An Assessment of the Ba-Himmat Buzurg Programme [2024] – Research Report Supported by GIZ Pakistan Assessing the Prospects of SOS Children's Village in Tharparkar [2022] Supported by SOS Children's Villages Interactive Dialogues on Countering Violent Extremism [2019-2021] – The Composite Report Supported by DAI Pakistan Socio-Economic Costs of Violence against Women and Girls in Pakistan [2016-2019] – Summary Report Supported by the National University of Galway, ...
A panel discussion on Pakistan’s Population Prerogative was held at Adab Festival Pakistan on February 3, 2019 at Governor’s House Karachi. The discussion was based on SPDC’s research report entitled ‘The 2017 Census of Pakistan: Analyses of Results’. The panelists included Dr. Mehtab S. K More ..
Event Date: 03/02/2019
Final dissemination event of the project, Economic and Social Costs of Violence against Girls and Women was held on June 15, 2019 in Islamabad. Summary report was launched in the event, which was attended by representatives from government, academia and civil society sector. Presentations on the fin More ..
Event Date: 15/06/2019
SPDC conducted an analysis of the changes in the rates and structure of FED on cigarettes that were introduced in the Federal Budget 2019-20. It estimated the impact of these changes on consumption of cigarettes and the revenue collected through FED and GST. In order to share the findings with relev More ..
Event Date: 06/09/2019
State of the Economy and Reform Agenda Seminar & Book Launch of Growth and Inequality in Pakistan: Agenda for Reforms by Dr. Hafiz A. Pasha Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Pakistan organized a seminar on “State of the Economy More ..
Event Date: 20/09/2019
Interactive Dialogue - Nexus between Intolerance & Violent Extremism Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) organized an interactive dialogue titled; “Nexus between intolerance and violent extremism,” on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at Avari Towers, Karachi. The dialogue was the fir More ..
Event Date: 12/10/2019
In order to share the research findings with relevant stakeholders, a dissemination seminar on Quantifying the Potential Tax Base of Cigarette Industry in Pakistan was held in Islamabad on December 6, 2019. The seminar was attended by representatives from various stakeholders including government, m More ..
Event Date: 06/12/2019
