In its latest edition, the Economist magazine tracked inflation in 42 countries plus the Euro region and found that Argentina was on the top with inflation, standing at 51.4 percent, Turkey on the second with 19.6 percent, Brazil at third position with 10.2 percent and then on the fourth position was Pakistan with inflation standing at 9 percent.
Inflation remains the most worrisome issue for Pakistanis. Over the last three months, the prices of most goods and services consumed by the vast majority reached their highest level. Almost everything people eat, wear and use became significantly more expensive, adversely affecting the low-middle-income households.
Unfortunately in Pakistan, governments regularly resorted to blaming past leaderships for the ongoing crises in the country. Instead of alleviating the crisis through policies and measures, the government indulges in a blame game with the opposition.
When Prime Minister Imran Khan came into power, he promised to curb corruption and improving the lives of citizens, especially the working class, by uplifting the economy. These people used to say that if there is inflation in the country then the prime minister is corrupt. Then we have the right to question that who is corrupt now?
The fact is that misplaced policy priorities like the blind pursuit of growth, neglect of agriculture, the failure to address domestic supply disruptions, etc have contributed as much to the spike in prices as any recent foreign factor. Petrol may be cheaper in Pakistan when compared to India and Bangladesh but our much lower per capita income wipes out this advantage.
Meanwhile, another inflation bomb will soon be dropped on the people of Pakistan as Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin rejected the impression that Pakistan’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have failed. The resumption of the IMF deal is crucial for Pakistan to sustain its external sector in the short to medium term.
However, it is bad news for ordinary people. Besides making electricity a lot more expensive, the IMF is likely to force Islamabad to implement measures to boost income, consumption and import taxes to pull up its revenue target, abolish or significantly reduce all kinds of subsidies, and hike interest rates.
The brunt of these inflationary actions will primarily be borne by the low-middle-income families. Things are going to get especially worse for the poor, as they will find it harder to feed their families. We have to ask the incumbent government that is there effective messaging happening?
