As the economy continues to flounder, Pakistani professionals are having difficulty keeping up with rising expenditures.
KARACHI, March 24 (Reuters) – The school administrator claims that despite the fact that Naureen Ahsan makes more than double the national average earnings in Pakistan, she has no alternative but to homeschool her kids and postpone their London-board approved final exams since she cannot afford to pay for their education.
Ahsan and her husband, who owns a car servicing business, are struggling to cope with a surge in living costs triggered by the government’s devaluing the currency and removing subsidies to pave the way for the latest tranche of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout needed to stave off economic collapse. Ahsan and her husband are not alone in this struggle; the majority of people in the nation of 220 million are experiencing the same difficulty.
Economists claim that the new measures, which include higher taxes and gasoline expenses, are affecting educated professionals. Pakistan is no stranger to economic difficulties; in fact, this is its seventh IMF bailout since 1997. Several people report that they are reducing their spending on essentials in order to make ends meet.
Ahsan was quoted by Reuters as saying, “We don’t eat out any more.” “No longer do we purchase meat or fish. I’ve decreased the amount of tissue paper and detergent that I use. We don’t see friends, we don’t give gifts. On sometimes, we yell at each other and get quite angry.”
