ISLAMABAD: In sharp contrast to the rulers’ repeated rhetoric of burning the midnight oil to bring prosperity in the lives of the poor and the people at large, the government’s own statistics show a phenomenal price hike in the last two years as the average life of every citizen has become 50 per cent costlier than what it was in February-March 2008 when the present regime took power.

While the overall economic health of the country has deteriotated, corruption, too, saw a record increase, governance is in tatters, mismanagement is the rule of the day, the rupee-dollar parity rate has jumped from 60-1 to the present 85-1; the lives of citizens from the common man to the business class have gone from bad to worse.

The sensitive price index (SPI) of the government shows it shooting up from 173 in Feb 2008 to 254 in January 2010 with certain daily-use commodities showing an unprecedented increase up to 250-300 per cent. The rulers, who in their public speeches promise “Roti, Kapra” and “Makan” have in fact given an exceptional price hike since Feb 2008. For example, according to the average price index of the statistics division, sugar has jumped from Rs26 to the present Rs70 per kilogram; Ata (wheat flour average quality) has reached the present Rs30 from Rs16.5 per kilogram; tea (250 grams packet) has gone up from Rs65 to Rs124; farm chicken per kilo rose to Rs116 from Rs71, etc.

Almost every daily-use commodity, vegetables and fruits, electricity and natural gas rates, petroleum product prices, everything has gone up and up. The only exception in the list of 53 commodities, listed in the official essential commodities list, is tomato whose price has decreased from Rs38 to the present Rs16 per kilogram.

Electricity price for the poor, i.e., those who use up to 100 units per month, has been increased by almost 50 per cent from Rs2.65 per unit in Feb 2008 to Rs3.91 per unit today.

For those who use electricity beyond 100 units, and for commercial and industrial consumers, the power rates have been increased far more than the minimum users. Today the domestic users, who consumed between 101-300 units have to pay Rs4.96 per unit (excluding taxes), for those using between 301 and 700 units are paying Rs8.03 per unit (without taxes), and above 700 units the tariff rates are Rs10 per unit (without taxes). For commercial users, the power tariff in Feb 2008 was Rs9.53 per unit (including taxes) but now it is Rs14.93 (including taxes).

Natural gas prices saw 15 per cent increase for the minimum users whereas the price of LPG has gone up from Rs817 to Rs1,092 per cylinder, i.e., an increase by over Rs270 per cylinder. Petrol price has jumped from Rs53.83 to the present 65.92 per litre, diesel jumped from Rs37.86 to Rs69.27 per litre and kerosene shot up from Rs42 to Rs72 per litre. For the poor — who don’t afford LPG, have no natural gas and are dependent on wood, whose price per 40 kg has increased from previous Rs230 to Rs302.

According to the government statistics, during this period the prices of essential commodities have increased from Rs18 to Rs27 per kg in case of wheat; from Rs16.5 to Rs30.19 — Ata (wheat flour) per kg; from Rs36 to Rs43 per kg rice basmati; from Rs26 to Rs34 per kg rice IRRI; from Rs71 to Rs123 per kg masoor pulse washed; from Rs51 to Rs84 per kg moong pulse washed; from Rs42 to Rs84 per kg green pulse washed; from Rs122 to Rs174 per kg beef; from Rs234 to Rs312 per kg mutton; from Rs62 to Rs80 per dozen eggs; from Rs19 to Rs26 per bread plain medium size; from Rs26 to Rs70 per kg sugar; from Rs31 to Rs73 per kg Gur; from Rs133 to Rs167 per kg red chilli powder; from Rs30 to Rs41 fresh milk; from Rs114 to Rs115 per kg vegetable ghee; from Rs44 to Rs147 per kg garlic; from Rs65 to Rs124 per 250 grams of tea packet; from Rs318 to Rs353 per 2.5kg cooking oil tin; from Rs11 to Rs17 per kg potato; from Rs12 to Rs25 per kg onion; from Rs32 to Rs38 per dozen banana; from Rs7 to Rs11 per cup tea; from Rs33 to Rs45 cooked beef plate; from Rs20 to Rs29 per cooked daal plate; from Rs71 to Rs116 per kg farm chicken, etc.

Economic growth in 2007-08 was 4.1 per cent, which has tumbled to 3.4 per cent (revised estimates). The foreign and internal debt issue is already extremely serious. The ‘Debt Policy Statement 2009’, recently submitted to parliament, has already warned the government that the rising trend of debt to the GDP ratio, now touching 58.1 per cent, is a cause of concern and should not be allowed to continue or it could breach the 60 per cent targeted level as laid down in the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation (FRDL) Act 2005.

The detailed Debt Policy Statement, prepared by the Ministry of Finance’s Debt Office headed by its DG Masroor Ahmed Qureshi, stated that the total stock of Pakistan’s outstanding external debt and liabilities (EDL) has increased by $6.6 billion or 14.3 per cent. “The largest net yearly increase since the turn of the century saw the stock of outstanding EDL rise from $46.2 billion at the end of 2007-08 to $52.8 billion by the end of 2008-09,” the report added.

Pakistan’s Total Public Debt (TPD), during the first three months (July-Sept) of the current fiscal year, rose to Rs8,100 billion, registering an increase of Rs495 billion or 6.5 per cent, mostly on account of considerable inflows of foreign currency denominated debt.

The exact size of domestic debt stands at Rs4,010 billion and external debt in terms of rupee at 4,090 billion. “Disbursements under the third tranche of the IMF-SBA and from multilaterals caused the foreign currency component of the TPD to increase by Rs338 billion by end-September 2009,” the report disclosed.

During the year 2008-09, the total public debt increased by Rs1,600 billion (26.6 per cent). As of end-June 2009, Pakistan’s Total Public Debt stood at Rs7,605 billion. The Rupee denominated public debt increased from Rs3,266 billion to Rs3,853 billion during the same period, increasing by Rs587 billion or 18 per cent during the period.

The increase in the domestic component of public debt accounted for 37 per cent of the total increase in public debt. The primary source of increase in public debt during 2008-09 has been a rapid increase in the foreign currency component, which accounted for 63 per cent of the total increase in the TPD.