KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan and President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain has said sharp rise in energy and food prices are making lives of the masses difficult. Despite the clear instructions of the Prime Minister Imran Khan, the concerned authorities are unable to control the food prices, he added.

He said that it has become difficult for the middle-class which plays a pivotal role in the development of any country to maintain their quality of life. If the situation continues like this, soon only the rich and the poor will be left in the country as there will be no middle-class, he added.

He said that the people have not been able to spend on health, education, electricity, gas and other essentials due to inflation which has increased the risks to the country's future.

Hussain further said that rising unemployment has also increased crime rate. Apart from the sharp rise in prices of flour, sugar, chicken, eggs and meat, the price of cooking oil has risen by 88 percent and the price of sugar by 83 percent while the prices of other commodities have also continued to rise.

He noted that leaders are blaming inflation globally, but the reality is that food prices in other food-importing countries, including India and Bangladesh, are much lower than in Pakistan. Energy prices in many regional countries, including India and Bangladesh, are also lower than Pakistan's in terms of per capita income.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021