Prices of kitchen items up by 200-300 percent: PML-N

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on Friday said that prices of essential kitchen items had increased by 200-300 percent during the last six years, belying the government's claim of giving any relief to the financially-squeezed common man.
PML Secretary Information Ahsan Iqbal said while reacting to a statement by President General Pervez Musharraf that price hike had broken peoples' back.
"It is self indictment on failure of economic policies of Musharraf regime, which had presented a seven-point agenda as a panacea for all ills after overthrowing a constitutional government. Well into seventh year of its rule, the government is seeking five more years on the pretext that it needs more time to show results while the democratic governments were not allowed to go beyond two and a half years," Ahsan Iqbal contended.
He said inflation has crossed nine percent mark. The prices of everyday use items have increased by 200 to 300 percent in the last six years. The trade deficit is touching $12 billion for the current year, which will be met by eating up proceeds from the privatisation of the state's strategic assets like the Pakistan Steel Mills and PTCL and borrowing from the external markets, he pointed out.
"The government miserably failed to take advantage of post-9/11 inflows. Due to poor handling of economy and failure in managing demand and supply gap, the growth rates have triggered over heating of economy in the second year, while in China two decades of double digit growth has not heated the economy.
Similarly, in India, he said, despite six years of high growth rates the economy hasn't caused inflation. Due to political instability in Pakistan, investment inflows were much less than expected even in the productive sectors.
Real estate and stock market-based speculations have been the key driver of Pakistan's economy, which neither generated jobs nor alleviated poverty, he argued.
"The social sectors have taken a big blow during Musharraf era as the average allocation during last five years to education was 1.7 percent of GDP compared to 2.4 percent during last five years of democratic regimes. In last three years, Pakistan has been downgraded in all literacy and education related international ratings", he said.