Food prices up by 42% in one year

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Re: Food prices up by 42% in one year

Massive load shedding — a shock to the system
** People worried at low gas pressure, water shortage

  • Businessmen also suffering
  • Officials point to ‘load management’

By Manzoor Ali Shah*

PESHAWAR: The hours long load-shedding and suspension of natural gas supply has disrupted routine life and are causing severe problems for people in the chilly weather.

The low pressure and suspension of natural gas is causing problems at restaurants, houses, bakeries, factories as people cannot cook the food on time and keep themselves warm as the temperature in the provincial metropolis has fallen till freezing.

The massive load shedding for load management is another problem, which has caused a shortage of water in the city and thereby adding to the miseries of the people.

Syed Khan, a Peshawarite, told Daily Times that the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) was not adhering to its scheduled timings for power breakdown. He added that the areas outside the cantonment and city had faced around 10 hours long load shedding on Tuesday, in addition to shortage of water and natural gas suspension.

He said he had not taken his breakfast and that “Even I lacked water to wash my hands and face.”

Industries suffering: Sarahad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Haji Asif told Daily Times that the industries were severely affected by the extensive load shedding and suspension of gas facility, and that the traders were suffering losses. He said the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) had cut off the connections of around 400 industrial units to ensure gas supply to the ordinary consumers. “We met SNGLP and PESCO authorities on Wednesday and discussed the situation and problems faced the business community,” Haji Asif added.

Load management: The PESCO has announced load shedding for five hours in the city, with half to one hour power breakdown five times a day, PESCO Spokesman Shaukat Afzal told Daily Times.

He added that if there was a threat of the system’s collapse, then the National Power Control Centre (NPCC) might shut down the grid station and the load shedding period could not be ascertained in that case.

He said the shortage of water was the main reason for the load shedding, adding that power generation art Terbela, Mangla and Warsak dams was very low.

Shaukat Afzal said the low pressure and suspension of natural gas had also adversely affected the power generation as many power generation units used gas.

He said the production was at around 2,000 mega watts while the demand was of 2,500 mega watts, adding that the load shedding was meant to meet the shortage of 500mw power.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\01\03\story_3-1-2008_pg7_49

یہ دوست
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Re: Food prices up by 42% in one year

…but, but but…I thought the economy is booming and we have bazilions of dollars in surplus :konfused:

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Re: Food prices up by 42% in one year

A letter from Dawn:

Foreign debt figures

"THROUGHOUT General Musharraf’s tenure there has been talk of ending foreign dictation with regard to the economy, the latest reference being in the budget speech when the minister of state for finance endorsed “sovereignty from external interference, domination and dictation” and “making the sovereignty of Pakistan absolute”.

The government has made various attempts to dress up the rising debt we owe to multinational institutions such as the World Bank, which interfere in every area of the economy as well as areas such as education. At times the figure for debt has been combined with external liability figures to hide it, as the adviser to the prime minister on finance, Dr Salman Shah, did on June 8. It has been expressed as a percentage relative to the GDP, to hide its absolute rise.

However, cutting through such smokescreens, debt to international financial institutions has grown immensely as a close scrutiny of State Bank figures reveals.

Before General Pervez Musharraf came into power, Pakistan’s debt to multinational institutions such as the World Bank stood at $10.599 billion (July 1, 1999). As of March 30, 2005 it had risen by 50 per cent to $15.461 billion. As for the debt to the IMF it now stands at $1.757 billion, a marginal reduction from the $1.825 billion it was before General Musharraf’s regime. This is in spite of the fact that over the same period we have paid $8.8 billion to multinational institutions.

So, rather than taking the nation into confidence about the true picture of increasing dictation by international financial institutions, we are having the wool pulled over our eyes. This is putting the interests of the western donor states first who back the World Bank and the IMF, to ensure the increased influence of western multinational companies and to prevent Pakistan from emerging as an industrial power."