Islamabad [Pakistan], June 9 : The prices of food items in Pakistan have increased by 100 per cent this year compared to last year, as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
In 1922, a bag of 20 kg flour was 1400 rupees, it has now exceeded 2300 rupees, while the price of bread has increased from 10 rupees to 20 rupees in a year.
Branded cooking oil was 300 rupees per litre and is now available for around 600 rupees per litre. Sugar has reached from 90 to 125 rupees per kg. The prices of vegetables and fruits have also increased in the same proportion.
At the government level, there are no satisfactory measures to control inflation. Government oversight is giving more leeway to profiteers.
On the one hand, there is increasing inflation, there is increasing unemployment and continuously decreasing purchasing power of the common man. These factors together have broken the back of the people, who are also forced to buy local food grains at high prices, according to Daily Dunya.
The Pakistan vernacular media reported that the country’s government should improve the situation, provide ample employment opportunities, and crack down on the profiteers by taking serious measures to control the ever-increasing inflation.
The inflation rate soared to a new all-time high in Pakistan to 38 per cent in May, making it the highest in the region, according to The News International.
It is pertinent to mention that this record is the remarkable level that has been witnessed in the nation since the commencement of comparable records in 1957.
The inflationary surge, which escalated from the previous month’s rate of 36.4 per cent, can largely be attributed to an unprecedented increase in food prices.
Last year, in May, the inflation was 13.76 per cent. The official monthly inflation bulletin said that there was a 1.6 per cent increase in the consumer price index (CPI) compared to the previous month.
