Pakistan: People struggle to manage essentials for survival amid inflation

May 06, 2024

Karachi [Pakistan], May 6 : As the purchasing power of a common man in Pakistan nosedives, people are now struggling to have daily needs as they face the challenge of skyrocketing inflation and severe unemployment.
People in Pakistan's major cities like Lahore and Karachi suffer to stay afloat, sacrificing one or the other component of their daily needs to survive.
Rashid a resident of Karachi stated, "We cannot afford meat anymore, it is totally out of question, leave aside meat we are not able to buy grains, lentils, rice, fruits and vegetables for our families in what we earn today. Today even flour is not cheap so what is there left to eat?"
"The poor are left with nothing in the end, people are committing crimes to survive, as no one is left with an option. And everything comes back to extremely high prices of essential commodities. The meat that we consume today is highly-priced and also vaccinated with taste and weight enhancers which is leading to health problems. The only option left with us is to request the government, to think less about themselves and to think about us more," he added.
Another resident of Karachi, Nazeer Ahmed also highlighted the economic crisis in the country and urged the government to take proper measures to curb the staggering inflation rate.

"Meat is a part of our daily diet in Pakistan, but a normal worker-class individual like me cannot afford it anymore. All the things in Pakistan today are high-priced and are out of our reach now. The government must at least think about this and make it affordable to the general public by fixing the price of the commodity. I believe that the best way to stop inflation is to stop the price rise of petrol immediately and this will trickle down by reducing the price of every necessary commodity," he said.
A Pakistani journalist from Lahore city of Punjab province, Bashir Sheikh, also underscored that one of the major causes of high inflation in Pakistan is corrupt activities being ignored by the administration.

Referring to the high cost of electricity in Pakistan Sheikh stated that the biggest cause of such high-priced electricity is power theft.
"If this is once controlled there will be no issue of high cost of electricity. And the only way someone can steal electricity is when there is a major involvement of officials from the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WPDA). The only way to stop any of these corrupt acts is by arresting and punishing these corrupt officials which has not happened till now," he said.