June 05, 2006	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 8, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, June 4: Of all the citizens hit by the spiralling prices of essential items, those living in the federal capital suffer the most — the city being the costliest in the country. And a large number of them, claiming to be in the know of things being government employees, blame the government for the misery of the low-income groups, particularly the salaried class.

They put no hope in the federal budget bringing any relief to the poor as the government had turned a blind eye to hoarding and profiteering because the vested interests behind them were backed by ruling party’s influential members.

As for the rising utility bills — electricity, gas — and petroleum products, it could be justifiably attributed to outside influences — the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the international market forces.

Government spokesmen’s constant strains about the largest- ever foreign exchange reserves and per capita income mean nothing to people who feel sinking ever-deeper in poverty.

“I break my back cleaning homes from dawn to dusk but still don’t earn enough to feed my family,” said a woman who works as a domestic servant in seven houses.

She is among many who are forced to cut their weekly purchase of sugar, pulses, meat and vegetables due to skyrocketing prices. The buying power of the common man has shrunk considerably in the last six years due to the galloping inflation.

The government has recently imposed 15 per cent regulatory duty on export of sugar, while the price of the sweetener had already reached the highest level of Rs40 per kg since January last.

According to statistics, millers exported 6,455 metric tons of sugar per month to Afghanistan before the levy. The delay in decision also resulted into further shortage of the commodity in the market.

The government levied regulatory duty on export of pulses, but again the decision came so late that a larger chunk of domestic production of pulses had already been exported. It may be mentioned here that the production of pulses this year remained less than that in the previous year.

It is also silent on the issue of exporting meat to Middles East and neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan, while there is a shortage of livestock in the country. The government is boasting that it has raised over $12 billion in reserves besides achieving massive growth as “shown” by major economic indicators, but there is no tickle-down effect of these achievements on the common man. Prices are spiralling, unemployment steadily on the rise and the number of people below the poverty line is constantly increasing.

“Our president and prime minister are claiming at every forum that our economy has improved. They really need to explain what they mean by improvement,” says a government official.

Buyers are now cautious in selecting items. They hesitate to purchase even essential items due to low salaries. Even in the first seven days of a month, people belonging to the salaried class, are not seen in the market.

Essential items of daily use are getting out of the common man’s reach as a result of a soaring inflation rate. The prices of 39 essential daily use commodities like Ghee, Gur, flour, cooking oil, vegetables, and utilities have increased since October 1999.

A review of the sensitive price indicators for the last five years show that all consumer items in food group undergo large variation in prices with change in season. Prices of agricultural perishable items in particular, declined during the harvest and post-harvest season but start rising after some time. Price of these items particularly undergo phenomenal rise during Ramazan, Eid period.