Nearly half of Pakistanis ”food insecure”

[sng]

Nearly half of Pakistanis ”food insecure” - WFP ISLAMABAD, April 4 (Reuters) Nearly half of Pakistan's 160 million people are at the risk of going short of food due to a surge in prices, the World Food Programme said Friday.

The WFP survey covering the year to March showed the number of people deemed “food insecure” had risen 28 percent to 77 million from 60 million in the previous year. Sahib Haq, an official with the WFP's Vulnerability Analysis & Mapping Unit in Pakistan, said food prices rose at least 35 percent in the past year compared with an 18 percent rise in minimum wages. “There is a very big gap between the increase in prices and increase in wages ... the purchasing power of the poor has gone down by almost 50 percent,” Haq said.

The price of wheat flour in January was between 24-25 rupees (38 U.S. cents) per kg in three of Pakistan's four provinces, compared with 15 rupees per kg in January 2007, the WFP said. Prices have since moderated to around 17 rupees but are expected to shoot up 40 percent or more in the coming months, according to grain industry officials. “There will be a big crisis,” Haq said. Prices for rice, vegetables and cooking oil have also risen sharply.

This Latest News quoted with the thanks of "Daily Dawn"

 

[Always Neutral]

I though 8 years of excellant administration under the Great Gen M would have solved all that. Guess I was wrong as most people.

Regards

 

[BATMAN]

AN, before lamanting Musharraf's rule and drawing final conclusions based on wheat prices have you considered other ecnomic and development indicators?

There can be many reasons behind price increase of a particular commodity.
Some how in 2007 Afghan people got rich and they started to pay higher price for wheat and flour mill owners started to smuggule the wheat out of country for increased profit reason. This lead to a surge increase in wheat price.
There are other elements like increased gasoline and energy prices, raised wages and profit margins by the retailer.
Infect the news also indicate that there had been 19% increase in peoples income.
Have you not seen how the stock market had been performing.
Pakistan is a heaven for any bussinesman, there are not strict regulation policies and bussinessman can make profits in Pakistan like no other palce in world.
BTW, increased food item prices is a global phenomenan.

 

[Awesome]

I though 8 years of excellant administration under the Great Gen M would have solved all that. Guess I was wrong as most people.

Regards

8 years of an imposed war, has had this tiny little effect too, you think?

Wise remarks aside, the growing population, the lack of national consensus at building water reserves and the turbulent past year, all would count as primal factors.

It's not a food shortage yet. I think this government would probably subsidize it, whereas Musharraf was anti-subsidies.