Worse than poverty

The rate of inflation in Pakistan is currently around 8.9 percent which has significantly driven up the costs of basic commodities like flour, wheat, oil, pulses, vegetables, meat etc. Such inflation has severely affected the poor. According to the government, around 22 percent of the country’s population is living below the poverty line. However, according to the World Bank, with a lower-middle-income poverty rate of $3.2 per day, the figure stands at 39.3 percent – almost twice the state’s figure. Hundreds of thousands of people in Pakistan are either unemployed or just scraping by on odd jobs. They are unable to buy basic commodities. The government should work to lower the rate of inflation as far too many people are suffering.

Gulbano M Naeem

Awaran