In a welfare state, inflation hardly affects a common man. In fact, in such a state, people know not what inflation is. But the ones who vow now and then to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state are hammering the ordinary folk with all possible kinds of taxation. As a result of the government’s decision to tax every commodity, inflation has risen to 12.7 per cent this year.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), this nine-year high inflation was driven by an increase in the prices of essential commodities, especially food items. Things once considered necessary food items are thought of as luxury ones because of the price hike. People think twice, if not a hundred times, before even buying tomatoes. The fact that the prices of essential food items are higher in rural areas than in urban centres should bring the government in motion to save ordinary people from the harms of inflation.
But the government maintains that by next month it will bring down inflation. How? The officials don’t have any explanation. The situation is alarming. The government needs to take steps to control it. After eroding the purchasing power of customer, the rising inflation will encourage people to spend more thinking better to spend rather than save, as cash will lose value.
Unfortunately, the urge to spend and invest in the face of inflation tends to boost inflation in turn, creating a potentially catastrophic feedback loop. As people and businesses spend more quickly to reduce the time they hold their depreciating currency, the economy finds itself awash in unwanted cash. Rising food inflation has been taking its toll on the common man across the country. From rural to urban centres, the situation has been grim, and the average household is being forced to turn to cheaper alternatives. What are the sloganeers of Islamic Welfare State doing to make life easy for the common man?