Another article showing the truth about the so called “economic” miracle of the last 8 years.
** A World Food Programme (WFP) report last week said nearly half of the country’s 160 million people are at risk of going short of food due to a surge in prices. **
**Food prices rose at least 35% in 2007, compared with an 18% rise in minimum wages, cutting the purchasing power of the poor by almost 50%, WFP said. **
** The question is, where are the benefits of an economy that has been growing at between 7% and 8% during the past five years? **
**After 9/11, Pakistan has received between $65bn to $70bn in terms of remittances, international debt rescheduling, aid inflows and foreign direct investment, says Asad Sayeed, an independent economist. **
Slow down
**This windfall fattened the bank deposits and coupled with low interest rates during 2002-06, sparked an unprecedented monetary expansion in the shape of consumer financing. **
** Easy credit lines created nearly 25 million buyers of houses, motorbikes, cars and larger vehicles, mostly in the urban centres. **
**But the policy hardly created any jobs. Instead, it created inflationary pressures in the economy, pushing more people below the poverty line. **
