HARIPUR, Jan 25: Students at a seminar on Tuesday observed that extravagance by the upstart and non-development government and defence expenditures were responsible for inflation in Pakistan.

The seminar "Inflation in Pakistan" was organized by the Economic Society of Frontier Education Foundation, Post-Graduate College for Women, Haripur. Speakers said that although the export of Pakistani manpower to the developed world had contributed to the economic progress, it had brought in a lot of money which subsequently gave birth to a parvenu class in the country.

Soon, these communities became class conscious and started a reckless competition for achieving commodities and facilities, causing an upward trend in the cost of living, they added.

About the kinds of inflation, the students said that apart from the high cost of living, deficit financing, black money, defence and non-development government expenditures, and slow growth of economy were contributory factors.

They suggested that internationally recognized monetary and fiscal policies should be employed to arrest the growing rate of inflation. To achieve the purpose, they called for control on flow of money and budgetary deficit, creation of commodity balance, adoption of revenue labour policies and consumer cooperative savings schemes, and formulation of investor-oriented policies.

Sadia, Ramla Saleem and Humaira were prominent among the speakers. The students also presented skits on the socio-economic condition of different segments of society, particularly the behaviour and lifestyles of wealthy classes. Ms Sonia Khan, in charge Economic Society, and Saeeda Shaheen, the principal, also spoke.