Rising inflation distresses citizens in Pakistan

The prices of essential seasonal fruits and vegetables have increased despite fresh harvest as the government failed to rein in rising inflation.
The greengrocers blame the increase in petroleum prices, high transportation cost and poor economic policies of the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for swelling prices.
The market survey portrays that during the months of January and February, prices of most seasonal vegetables were low in the previous years, following an increase in supplies after the new harvest.
However, hardly any decrease has been witnessed in seasonal fruit and vegetable prices during the current season, though markets have been flooded with huge stocks of fresh produce.
Various traders blamed the PTI government for the current situation.
A street vendor, Allah Rakha, said that the government had failed to provide any relief to the common citizens.
“The cost of everything is high when compared to previous governments.
It has become difficult for small traders to keep their businesses running as inflation has badly affected people’s purchasing power,” he said.
A shopkeeper, Umar Ali, highlighted that running a business during the PTI government was really a challenging task.
He urged the government to take prompt measures to correct the economic situation of the country otherwise it would be hard for businessmen to remain in business.
Shoppers also complained about the high prices of essential commodities.
A citizen, Mahmood Bhatti, said that inflation had badly hit the common man.
He said that the government had fixed Rs16,000 as minimum wage of but they do not know how common citizens were running their kitchens.