KARACHI: According to a data released on Wednesday by the country’s statistics bureau, Pakistan has been battling inflation highest in 48 years. Year on year inflation in the country was recorded at 27.55 percent, the highest since May 1975.
The world’s fifth-biggest population has less than $3.7 billion in the state bank — enough to cover just three weeks of imports.
In view of the economical crises, a team from IMF visited Islamabad to revive negotiations over a stalled bailout package with the government, which has so far held out from meeting the global lender’s tough conditions.
Industry has been hammered by the imports block and massive rupee devaluation. The Rupee plunged to a record low against the Dollar. The price for fuel was also hiked tremendously.
The state bank is no longer issuing letters of credit, except for essential food and medicines, causing a backlog of thousands of shipping containers at Karachi port stuffed with stock the country can no longer afford.
It is a common pattern in Pakistan, where most people live in rural poverty, with more than two dozen IMF deals brokered and then broken over the decades.