New Delhi: Amidst the economic crunch Pakistan is battling with a cash crunch, the country’s defense minister on Saturday (February 18, 2023) said the country has “already defaulted”. Addressing a function in his hometown Sialkot, Khawaja Asif blamed the establishment, bureaucracy and politicians for the current economic crisis. He said that it is important for Pakistan to stand on its own feet to stabilize itself.
“You must have heard that Pakistan is going bankrupt or a default or a meltdown. It (default) has already happened. We are living in a bankrupt country,” Asif was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
He said that the solution to our problems lies within the country. IMF does not have solution to Pakistan’s problems,
He said that everyone including the ruling establishment, bureaucracy and politicians are responsible for the current economic plight as the law and constitution are not followed in Pakistan.
Pakistan Economic Crisis: Cash-strapped country’s weekly inflation rises to 38.4 percent
Meanwhile, annual inflation in Pakistan shot up to a new high of 38.42 per cent in the past week as the rising trend in prices of essential commodities continued.
increased due to the imposition of new taxes and a hike in petroleum prices To meet the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) demand before releasing US$1.1 billion as part of the US$7 billion deal already agreed by the Shehbaz Sharif-led government.
The Sensitive Price Index (SPI), which is used to measure short-term inflation, rose to 38.42 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, news agency PTI reported, quoting the latest data from the Pakistan Bureau. of statistics.
During the last week, the prices of 34 commodities increased, five decreased and 12 remained unchanged. Rising prices hit the group the most with a monthly income of Rs 29,518 to Rs 44,175, with an inflationary impact of 39.65 per cent.
On a weekly basis, the SPI increased by 2.89 per cent as compared to a rise of 0.17 per cent in the previous one.
In the previous week, the annualized SPI inflation rate was recorded at 34.83 per cent.
The hike in prices is attributed to the hike in fuel prices announced by the government. Due to this, the prices of essential commodities have also increased.
The SPI is used to measure prices of 51 essential commodities based on a survey of 50 markets in 17 cities across the country.
Petrol prices saw a weekly increase of 8.82 per cent, five liters of cooking oil by 8.65 per cent, one kg of ghee by 8.02 per cent, chicken meat by 7.49 per cent and diesel by 6.49 per cent.
A week-on-week (WoW) decline in tomato prices was observed by 14.27 per cent. After this, the price of onion decreased by 13.48 percent on a weekly basis. Similarly, the price of eggs decreased by 4.24 percent, that of garlic by 2.1 percent and that of flour by 0.1 percent.
The highest year-on-year increase was seen in onion prices, which went up by 433.44 per cent. After this comes the number of chicken meat, whose price has increased by 101.86 percent on an annual basis. Diesel became costlier by 81.36 per cent and eggs by 81.22 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
Among the items whose prices were reduced on a year-on-year basis, tomato was down by 65.3 per cent and chilli powder by 7.42 per cent.
According to the data for the week under review, the inflation rate for the group earning up to Rs 17,732 per month on an annual basis was 35.01 per cent. For the Rs 17,733 to Rs 22,888 per month income group, the inflation rate stood at 36.53 per cent.
Similarly, the inflation rate for the income group of Rs 22,889 to Rs 29,517 per month came down to 38.43 per cent. For those earning Rs 29,518 to Rs 44,175 per month, the inflation rate was 39.65 per cent – the highest in terms of impact.
The rate of inflation for the group with monthly income above Rs 44,176 has been 39.41 per cent.
Pakistani authorities surprised people last week by imposing new taxes to raise Rs 170 billion through a mini-budget bill. Unprecedented inflation has affected every household.
(with agency inputs)