Pakistan breaks all the inflation rates records
With Pakistan unwilling to meet IMF terms and facing a sovereign default if the finance plan expires at the end of June, the Shehbaz Sharif government is caught between a rock and a hard place, as the Islamic nation is reporting its highest inflation figures since records began in 1957.
Today, Pakistan has surpassed Sri Lanka to have the highest inflationary pressure in Asia, at 38% in May 2023. After Pakistan surpassed Colombo in April 2023, inflation in Sri Lanka fell to 25.2%.
While Pakistan has always boxed far above its weight class, first due to support from the United States and now China, and attempted to compare itself to India, the inflation rate under the Narendra Modi government is 4.7 per cent, the lowest since October 2021, and food inflation is only 3.8 per cent. Food inflation in Pakistan was 48.7 per cent in May, up from 48.1 per cent in April.
Pakistan government negotiates with IMF:
The Pakistan government’s negotiations with the IMF have become even more skewed after IMF mission leader Nathan Porter stated that he hoped the Constitution and the rule of law would address Pakistan’s current political crisis.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif condemned Porter’s statement, saying it involved intervention in Pakistan’s political affairs.
Minister Asif objected to Porter speaking on Pakistan’s domestic politics rather than providing the Islamic country with the much-needed USD 1.1 billion loans.
While the Pakistani leadership believes that mentor China will come to its financial aid if the country’s economic situation deteriorates as a result of no IMF board meeting this month, the crisis in the Islamic nation is far deeper than it appears, with the country polarised by May 9 mayhem and violence by PTI chief Imran Khan Niazi’s supporters.
Because of Niazi’s ongoing attacks on the Pakistan Army establishment, the general public has doubts about Rawalpindi GHQ’s ability to stem the deep rot within, as the Army itself was found divided on May 9, with PTI supporters torching the Jinnah House residence of the powerful Lahore Corps Commander.
With insurgencies developing in Balochistan, Sindh, and Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan attacking the military forces in the heart of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces, Pakistan is on its knees.
Rather than focusing on how to co-opt Kashmir, instigate Khalistan in Indian Punjab, and create a strategic gap in Afghanistan, the Shehbaz Sharif government must get its act together and work internally to prevent Pakistan from hitting rock bottom.
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