By Our Staff Reporter
Islamabad: Pakistan’s economy is plunging into new lows every day with inflation at an all-time high.
Pakistan experienced a 12-year high inflation rate of 14.6% in January, which is among the highest in the world.
Food prices in the country have been spiralling out of control. Food inflation was 16.6% in October. Pakistan’s government has gone on a panic-buying spree to push down prices.
Pakistan’s currency has weakened by 160 Pakistani rupees to one dollar, becoming one of the worst-performing currencies in the country. “Naya Pakistan” turns out to be a nightmare for Imran Khan, who has taken the form of a country-failed and drifted.
For all his wonderful promises of a new age, Prime Minister Imran Khan just took his country back.
Pakistan’s gross public debt has risen. It has increased by 11 trillion ropes to a total of 36.3 trillion, which is 87% of Pakistan’s total GDP over the two years under Imran Khan’s rule.
Then there are foreign loans that have been piled up. Islamabad continues to turn to foreign banks to meet its balance of payments. In the most recent event, the Asian Development Bank has given a loan of $300 million to Islamabad, in addition to the $1.3 billion that Pakistan borrowed from the IMF in April, which in addition to the $6 billion loan it received from the IMF in July.
Pakistan’s economy is scraping the bottom of the barrel with unemployment rising. According to the World Economic Forum, the youth unemployment rate in Pakistan is 8.5% in a country where 64% of the population is below the age of 30.
Pakistan’s health care has gone from poor to worse. According to Pakistan’s National Command Operations Center, 10,300 health professionals were infected during the pandemic, and at least 100 health staff were killed by the virus from China.
There is also a serious shortage of oxygen in hospitals. At least 6 patients lost their lives in Peshawar due to oxygen shortages, while more than 200 patients had their oxygen supply limited for hours.
Corruption has been institutionalised in Pakistan. The bus rapid transit project and the billion tree tsunami project, the brainchild of Imran Khan, are now scams. Pakistan’s auditor-report general’s reported financial irregularities of up to 2.77 billion Pakistani rupees in the Bus Rapid Transport Project, and the billion tree tsunami project is facing a financial meltdown and abuse of authority.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised a tree tsunami across Pakistan. The money has been invested, but there are no trees to show for it, all that remains is a hole in the public treasury with a loss of more than 432 million Pakistani rupees.
Naya Pakistan is riddled with the same old problems-politicians are embroiled in corruption, elites are exploiting the masses, and clerics are radicalising them. The army is taking control, and cash and terrorism have become a means of survival, the people of Pakistan, though. They’re barely able to survive.