Pakistan has delayed its next population and housing census by four months because it has been unable to obtain in time the letters of credit (L/Cs) needed to procure the digital tablets it wants to use to collect and process information.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) wants to procure 126,000 tablets from China for the upcoming seventh national census.

L/C delays

"Due to delay in opening of L/Cs due to the prevailing economic situation, NADRA is unable to provide tablets," according to a statement issued by the planning ministry.

Restrictions on import L/C openings - which are now gradually being eased - have been imposed by the central bank in its efforts to preserve scarce foreign exchange reserves (DC World News, 11 November 2022).

Revised timelines

Timelines for the census have been revised and the field work to gather information is now scheduled to commence in February and will take around a month to complete. Field surveys were originally expected to have been completed by mid-November.

The tablets Pakistan wants to use to conduct its next census are smart devices equipped with a house listing and population enumeration application synchronised with a global positioning system (GPS) and a geographic information system (GIS).

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.