IMF sees inflation peaking at 20 pc in Pakistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 25 (ANI): Pakistan's economy is slowing to around 3.5 per cent due to weakening economic conditions and the average inflation rate peaking to nearly 20 per cent by the end of the current fiscal year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Citing sources, The Express Tribune reported that during talks for the completion of the 7th review of the bailout package, the global lender significantly revised its projections for the current fiscal year compared with the assessment that it had made at the time of the last review.
The IMF has shaved Pakistan's previous year economic growth forecast by 1 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan in this week's monetary policy statement had said that the floods caused by unusually heavy and prolonged monsoon rains created downside risks for agricultural production, especially cotton and seasonal crops, and could weigh on growth this year.
Pakistan is grappling with a worse economic crisis and the deepening political turmoil is spawning doubts about the government's ability to make tough decisions going forward and tackle the longstanding structural issues of the economy responsible for the recurring balance-of-payments crisis.
Amid this, the Pakistani citizens are taking their financial woes online and criticizing the country's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) top leader Maryam Nawaz for doing nothing for the relief of the masses.
Recently, a video of a Pakistani woman surfaced, describing the skyrocketing prices of medicines, groceries and electricity in the country, especially in Karachi city and slamming Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz.
The video was shared by Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir in which a woman identified as Rabia from Karachi could be seen slamming the government after skyrocketing inflation. The woman asks the government whether she should end her children's lives by not feeding them anymore, The News International reported. (ANI)