Inflation for lowest income group up by 15.7pc

[Shamraz_Khan]

If this continues the people will come out on streets, and throw out illegal dictator and his regime.

http://nation.com.pk/daily/jan-2008/9/index5.php

Inflation for lowest income group up by 15.7pc

SHAHBAZ RANA
ISLAMABAD- With ever increasing inequity between rich and poor and scarcity of flour, the downtrodden are compelled to ride wave of inflation, whereas, prices of essential commodities registered an unprecedented growth of 15.7 per cent for the poorest during last week.
The official statistics showed that the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the income group of Rs 3000 per month soared by 15.72 per cent on January 3 as compared to the corresponding period of the last financial year. The SPI on week-on-week basis saw a growth of 2.12 per cent for the same class.
On other hand, the SPI for the richest of the country (monthly income above Rs 12000) ballooned by 9.68 per cent on year-on-year basis and 1.19 per cent on weekly basis.
For the second lowest income group (Rs 5000/month), the SPI on yearly basis soared by 15.42 per cent. The income group comprising people with income up to Rs 12000 per month witnessed an increase of 13.97 per cent in inflation.
Similarly, the combined SPI (average inflation for all income groups) also saw a double-digit growth, recording at 12.38 per cent during the period under review. Whereby, the combine SPI on weekly basis increased by 1.5 per cent.
According to the government’s own statistics, the gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ is on the rise in Pakistan as the richest class’s income is three times higher than the poorest segment of the society.
Despite 23.5 million tons wheat yield, as claimed by the government, the flour has almost disappeared from the markets. The rate of one-kilogram wheat flour has climbed to Rs 28 and still it is not available when people are even ready to make long queues in the chilly weather with willingness to tolerate the bruises of the baton charge.
The cost of construction is also increasing with every passing day. The Federal Bureau of Statistics bulletin showed an increase of 15.9 per cent year to January 3 in the cement prices and it augmented by 0.4 per cent on weekly basis.
The FBS bulletin also depicted rise in the prices of 23 essential commodities. The major kitchen items that saw increase in the cost include, wheat flour, onions, wheat, tomatoes, vegetable ghee, tea, potatoes, sugar, oils, pulses, chillies and rice.
The Federal Bureau of Statistics carries out a survey in 17 urban centres each week to determine the trend in the prices of 53 essential items. This time the rates of 23 essential commodities swelled, five items’ decreased, and 25 products prices remained same as of the previous week.
The essential goods witnessing increase in prices on yearly basis include, rice basmati broken 60 per cent, wheat flour 47.8 per cent, bananas 8.5 per cent, wheat 54.5 per cent, tomatoes 6.4 per cent, vegetable ghee loose 45.8 per cent, tea (prepared) 9.9 per cent, kerosene per litter five per cent, mustard oil 55.7 per cent, eggs per dozen 14.9 per cent, masoor pulse 31.5 per cent, washing soap nylon 17.5 per cent, shirting 9.2 per cent, red chillies 36 per cent, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (11kg cylinder) 50.5 per cent, firewood 14.4 per cent and mash pulse 0.4 per cent.
On weekly basis the rates of the essential items mounted in the following way, LPG 8.4 per cent, wheat flour and bananas 7.5 per cent, onions 7.3 per cent, wheat 6.7 per cent, tomatoes 2.6 per cent, vegetable ghee loose 2.5 per cent, tea 1.9 per cent, gur 1.3 per cent, potatoes and kerosene 1.2 per cent, sugar and mustard oil one per cent and eggs 0.8 per cent.
On weekly basis the rates of chicken witnessed a decline of one per cent, viol printed and lawn 0.8 per cent, garlic 0.4 per cent and rice (irri-6) 0.2 per cent.

[Shamraz_Khan]

Re: Inflation for lowest income group up by 15.7pc

http://www.reuters.com/article/gc04/idUSKLR13234920080108

Economic woes deepen gloom before vote in Pakistan
Tue Jan 8, 2008 8:37am EST

By Mark Bendeich - Analysis

KARACHI (Reuters) - Economic issues loomed large over Pakistan’s bloody election campaign as food queues and power cuts further dimmed President Pervez Musharraf’s political fortunes just 12 days after his main rival was killed.

Musharraf, and the political parties that back him in the run-up to February 18 parliamentary elections, are besieged on two fronts: accused of failing to protect slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and of allowing basic services to fall apart.

Pakistanis, already angry over the still-unsolved assassination, are complaining bitterly of prolonged blackouts, shortages of flour, a staple, and rising prices. The front pages of dailies now fret over the economy as much as Bhutto’s death.

“It’s extraordinary, this kind of crisis,” said political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi. “Musharraf should be the most worried person. This is a difficult situation in any case.”

Musharraf is not running for election in the polls but hopes parties allied to him perform well enough to form government that can safeguard his presidency, analysts said.

That was already a challenge when Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack on the campaign trail on December 27.

But the flour shortage, blamed on hoarding and smuggling of wheat because of low prices and expectations of a poor crop, has hit the nation of 160 million people where it hurts.

“It’s not fair,” said Younis, a retired worker who said he had waited in vain for hours outside a government store in Karachi to buy flour. He was among dozens of empty-handed people jostling at the front door, pleading with the storekeeper.

“We are very angry. He is giving only to his relatives.”

Roti, or unleavened bread, is eaten with almost every meal, from the poorest household to the wealthiest.

And, increasingly, these meals are also being eaten by candlelight, or in complete darkness, thanks to a worsening shortage of power and continuous nationwide blackouts. The prices of candles are rising as Pakistanis stock up on them.

MUSHARRAF’S PERFECT STORM?

To conserve power, Pakistan recently ordered all steel-melting plants to close for two weeks and for hundreds of textile mills to reduce operations, a government official said on Saturday. Offices and shopping centers were told to close early.

Pakistan is suffering a power deficit of up to 3,600 megawatts due to low water levels at hydro dams and damage to two main power lines attacked during the three days of violence that erupted after Bhutto’s assassination.

Even before Bhutto’s death, and the escalation of power cuts, an opinion poll by the U.S.-based International Republican Institute showed that two-thirds of Pakistanis wanted Musharraf to quit and that his allies would fare badly at elections.

Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party has been traumatized by her murder and, though it is committed to contesting the election, is still attacking Musharraf over the assassination and has yet to refocus on its campaign slogan, “Food, Shelter, Clothing.”

But Musharraf’s other main opponent, former premier Nawaz Sharif, is now campaigning hard on the economy and has called for Musharraf’s immediate resignation and the formation of an all-party government to conduct free and fair elections.

Sharif condemned the “policies which have brought the country to the brink of economic disaster”, though Pakistan was virtually bankrupt when Musharraf ousted Sharif in 1999.

The pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League, known as the Q League of PML-Q, which led the outgoing government, denied it was vulnerable to a voter backlash over the current problems and pointed to the past five years of above-average economic growth.

“No government is perfect, neither were the previous governments. But there have been solid achievements and that cannot be ignored,” said Tariq Azim Khan, a senior party official.

[Spock]

Re: Inflation for lowest income group up by 15.7pc

but ecaanmy is boom boom and ppl buy now have taste for aata as per elahi chaudhry (wazir-e-azum)