‘Eating, travelling less’: how Pakistanis are coping with killer inflation

KARACHI: With weekly inflation surging above 40 per cent, millions of Pakistanis have found their purchasing power further eroded, with many struggling to cover even the most basic necessities. Meanwhile, those at the helm of power scramble to put in stop-gap measures by imposing more taxes and blocking imports to shore up the country’s foreign reserves.

The worst hit by this are the poor, who cannot even afford two full meals a day.

Hailing from a small village near Nawabshah, Imam Ali lost most of his livestock and crops in 2020 due to floods, forcing him to come to Karachi to find a job. Ever since, he has been working as a security guard in Karachi’s FB Area, earning a meagre Rs15,000 a month. However, the minimum wage in Sindh is mandated at Rs25,000.

“We are solely reliant on God, we cannot make ends meet in this inflation,” said 55-year-old Ali. “If our children ask for food, we simply make excuses. If we eat one time, the second meal is hard to manage … we tell the children to just sleep.”

For Ali, who relocated to a temporary shelter near Nawabshah after his village was flooded again in the 2022 floods, the surge in petrol prices has made it difficult for him to even travel to his village to meet his family.

According to economists, the floods are one of the major reasons behind the current inflationary trend.

Another key reason is the additional tax measures announced by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who presented an IMF-dictated ‘mini-budget’ that increased the GST along with another hike in natural gas and fuel prices.

Meanwhile, the government already raised fuel prices earlier this year, including a Rs22.20 jump in petrol and a Rs17.20 hike in diesel rates.

“They [the government] have made our lives impossible. We are barely surviving,” complained Ali.

His income has not changed in the last three years despite the exponential rise in prices. He cannot afford to send his eight children to school and they stay with their mother at the shelter.

Constant struggle and compromise

Rukhsana Bibi, 41, who works as a domestic helper, paints a picture of constant struggles and compromises in her life.

“Earlier, I would come [to my place of work] for Rs100 but now I have to spend Rs300,” she said.

Bibi earns a meagre Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 from every home she works at. Like Ali, she has to compromise on the number of meals she and her family can have every day.

“We used to eat three times, but now we compromise on one meal,” she said.

Dilshad Begum, another domestic helper complained of similar issues. “It’s become very difficult to eat … we cook once and eat it thrice,” she said. “We are eating less, travelling less,” she said, listing ways she, like millions of other working-class persons, is trying to minimise expenses.

Fuelling problems

Fuel prices, meanwhile, have a direct impact on every sector of the economy, as is evident in the sharp spike in the prices of consumer goods and those with small businesses are also struggling.

Nadeemuddin Siddique, 60, who owns a small shop, said small businesses have been impacted the most by inflation.

“My life’s savings have been consumed due to this inflation. We are limiting ourselves. If we had four cups of tea before, now we have one,” he said.

A 22-year-old MBBS student at a private university, Hania Waseem, said that inflation has made her daily commute quite difficult.

“Earlier, we had to spend Rs15,000 per month but now it’s Rs30,000 per month. If you travel daily and were paying Rs300, now have to pay at least Rs500.”

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2023

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