68pc people complain of rising expenses

KARACHI: A larger segment of the population, surveyed by the Pulse Consultants, suffering from an unprecedented inflation and financial constraints are finding it difficult to make both ends meet.

Among those contracted for the survey, a total of 68pc respondents complained of rising expenses. Of these, the highest of 85pc were reported from KPK, followed by 67pc in Punjab, 64pc in Sindh and 43pc in Balochistan.

To another question about inability to meet expenses, 68pc respondents of the lower middle class agreed with the notion. As many as 77pc from the middle class, 59pc from upper middle class, while even 58pc percent of the upper crust complained of inability to meet expenses.

For the current survey, the Pulse Consultants quizzed a cross-section of 1,800 respondents from Oct 4-11 belonging to different economic and social tiers. According to the third quarterly survey of Pulse Consultants, in July 2021, 59pc respondents had complained of rising expenses, which rose to 68pc in October. In order to meet the rising expenses, according to the survey, 30pc respondents took loans, another 30pc contracted part time jobs and 37pc cut down their expenses.

The Pulse Consultants also found a drop of nine percent respondents who were able to meet expenses in the current financial scenario, from 41 percent in July 2021 has fallen to 32 in October. Of these, 31 percent were able to make some savings for the rainy day, while 69 percent expressed inability to do so.