The question: The price of wheat flour has moved from Rs35 per kilogram three years ago to Rs75 per kilogram. A typical Pakistani household used to spend Rs2,500 a month to fulfil its monthly flour consumption. The same quantity of flour now requires Rs5,200 a month.
Response: Automobile sales have registered a sizable growth from 13,983 units in September last year to 22,235 units in 2021. Pakistanis are buying cars; they must be getting richer.
Question: The price of sugar has moved from Rs55 per kilogram three years ago to Rs150 per kilogram. A typical Pakistani household used to spend Rs800 a month to fulfil its monthly sugar consumption. The same quantity of sugar now requires Rs2,100 a month.
Response: Federal Minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur has advised people to reduce the intake of sugar to control inflation.
Question: The global average rate of inflation is 3.2 percent. The rate of inflation in Pakistan is 9 percent. The rate of inflation in Pakistan is 200 percent higher than the global average. In the United States, food prices have risen by 4.6 percent over the past year. In Pakistan, the Sensitive Price Index, comprising 51 essential items collected by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) from 50 markets in 17 cities, stands at 17.37 percent – 270 percent higher than the same in the US.
Response: According to Prime Minister Imran Khan, inflation is a global phenomenon and Pakistan is facing less inflation compared with other countries. The PM also says the next general elections will be held through electronic voting machines at any cost.
Question: The average rate of inflation in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka is 4 percent. The rate of inflation in Pakistan is 9 percent. That is 125 percent higher than the average in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Response: Pakistan’s motorbike makers have increased prices in the range of Rs4,000 and Rs6,000. And this is the seventh time in the year that prices have been increased. Pakistanis are buying motorbikes; they must be getting richer.
Question: The average per capita income in Pakistan is Rs16,000 a month and a litre of petrol is now selling for Rs146, tomatoes at Rs220 per kilogram and eggs at Rs220 a dozen. The average per capita in the US is the equivalent of Rs1 million a month and a litre of petrol is now selling for $0.89, tomatoes at $2.80 per pound and eggs at $2.50 a dozen.
Response: Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that among oil-importing countries, Pakistan has the lowest prices for petrol and diesel. The prime minister explained this was possible because the government has reduced its taxes and levies.
Question: The demand-supply deficit of natural gas hovers around 2 billion cubic feet per day. What is the government doing about it?
Response: Federal Minister for Energy says: “I would like to challenge Shahzeb Khanzada to debate LNG and gas issues with me….”
If more than 80 million Pakistanis are going to bed hungry, our government needs to find a solution to feed them as opposed to telling them that almost all residents of Mars routinely go to bed without food. If the 27-year-old Asadullah, who sold old shoes in Karachi, sets himself on fire because of high inflation, our government should not be telling us that the suicide rate in Japan is higher.
The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad.
Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com Twitter: @saleemfarrukh
