Record inflation

As a rule of thumb, prices of groceries and household items once increased seldom revert to their original level. Keeping that in view, the inflation situation in Pakistan looks scary. The current food price inflation is the worst to have hit the common people and the upward movement of other items is also relentless. The same applies to energy rates that have surged with intermittent intervals for the past three years. The worst part of this rising inflation is that the PTI-led government and its ministers rather than acknowledging the problem and doing something about it have been consistently in a state of denial – with some even gaslighting the people by insisting all is well. They have refused to admit that the current inflation rate is unprecedented in many decades, if not in 70 years.

As the government prefers to remain suspended in a state of oblivion, the citizens are bearing the brunt of its incompetence and lack of strategy to contain rising prices in the market. It has become extremely difficult for lower and middle class people to survive on their meagre incomes and reduced job opportunities in the country. A vast majority of citizens have seen their purchasing power dwindle and most households are eking out a living at bare minimum. This erosion of livelihood opportunities does not bode well for the economy and may have ramifications that will be difficult for the government to control if the right measures are not taken immediately. Inflation was an issue even before the PTI government assumed power, but the sustained way in which it has seen an upsurge since 2018 has rung alarm bells all over the country. The only exceptions are perhaps the ruling party leaders and those who live in gated communities and do not buy their groceries in person. The financial hardships that the people are facing are not difficult to describe or grasp if you have some empathy with the person on the street.

The government must do all it can to keep various food staples within the reach of common people. According to some latest estimates, items of daily use such as cooking oil, ghee, lentils, sugar, and vegetables have seen price hikes as has wheat flour in each of the past three years. It simply means that in absolute terms most domestic-use items have nearly doubled in price in just three years. In Pakistan it has little to do with Covid-19 as the country has luckily escaped the worst of its impact and the overall international financial help to cope with Covid has come in handy. A double-digit food price inflation in Pakistan is even worse than those countries where the pandemic hit much harder such as in India. The government must get rid of its complacency in this matter and contain this rising inflation before it gets totally out of hand.