New Delhi: The economic catastrophe in Pakistan keeps becoming worse every day. As a result, the prices of all utilities have gone through the roof in the world’s fifth most populous country. As per reports in the media, the prices of onion, wheat and other essential commodities have reached unexpected heights in the last few months.
Talking about the official data, the sensitive pricing indicator (SPI)-based inflation rate, as reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), was 47 percent year over year during the week that ended on March 22. This happened after the cost of necessities kept going up. (Also Read: SBI, HDFC Bank’s Special FD Scheme: Check Fixed Deposits Plans Ending on March 31)
According to a report by pkrevenue, the price of onions in Pakistan has increased by 228,28 percent, the price of wheat flour has increased by 120,66 percent, the price of cigarettes has increased by 165,88 percent, the price of gas for the first quarter has increased by 108,38 percent, and the price of Lipton tea has increased by 94,60 percent. (Also Read: Anand Mahindra Reveals How He Enjoys Sunday; Check His Hilarious Post)
Diesel increased in price by 102.84 percent, bananas by 89.84 percent, gasoline by 81.17 percent, and eggs by 79.56 percent, according to the 51 goods tracked. Of the 51 tracked items, 26 saw price increases, 13 saw price decreases, and 13 saw no change in price.
The report also noted that as of the week ending on March 17, 2023, the nation’s foreign exchange reserves had increased to $10.14 billion.
For the unversed, Pakistan is currently experiencing a severe lack of foreign currency to maintain its balance of payments as a result of the ongoing economic crisis and the holdup in IMF loans.
