Amid a high-voltage political tension that has seemingly peaked in the much-anticipated Long March of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), a surging inflation has sapped all energies of the nation and the government to cope up with the worsening economic conditions and deepening political schism in the country.
As things stand, the poor strata of the society have been reeling under a high rate of unemployment and the growing dearness of daily use items, while the government in the centre, where a conglomerate of political parties is in power, has focused its attention to foil the protest march. As against that, the PTI, which has its government in two of the four provinces, as well as in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, has likely overplayed its political gimmick to call for snap polls in the country.
The high cost of living has driven the country to a vortex of economic disaster. In the meantime, the growing inflation keeps on eating away on the savings of the people and only encourages immediate spending to make them stay afloat. The massive increase in the money supply situation over the past couple of months triggered the week’s record inflation. Everyone is feeling the squeeze.
According to statistics of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the overall inflation rate is far higher than the estimates of the government and independent expectations, which ranged between 22 per cent and 25.5 per cent. And, the inflation’s trajectory has multiplied miseries of the people, has pushed the cost of food and transportation to an unbearable level.
The prices of goods and services we use daily have also kept on surging at the same break a neck speed in the current week. The new prices will surely have their full impact on the supply chain of food or non-food items as the recent floods have left tens of thousands of people without any means to cope with the weather vagaries in the face of present day inflation.
Thus, struggling with political stability, the incumbent government and the opposition party in the centre, should focus attention on the spiraling inflation, especially prices of food and petroleum products. The media has reported that the prices of perishable food items had surged by 70.5 per cent during the previous month.
Data shows transport fares saw a staggering spike of 53.5 per cent, while month-on-month inflation in the country has hiked by 4.7 per cent in October.
Observers believe it’s happening for the first time in the recent financial history of Pakistan.
Calculated by the SBP for the month of October, the core inflation has increased by 14 per cent for urban areas of the country, while for the rural areas the figure surged past 18 per cent. Statistics show average inflation hitting 25.5 per cent.
Typically, inflation is seen as a broad measure on the prices and the cost of living in a country. But it can also be more narrowly calculated – for certain goods, such as food, or for services, such as a haircut, for example. Whatever the context, inflation represents how much more expensive the relevant set of goods and/or services has become over a certain period, commonly over a year.
Once shot up, inflation knows no bounds and weighs heavily on the nerves of the nation and the government. Controlling the price spiral without keeping the ground reality in sight is in no way an easy job for any government or economic managers of a country. Hence, taking bold actions is the need of the hour to take on the inflation and bring down prices in the country.
