Imran Khan promised a Pakistan that would have a strong economy, lower prices, more employment and would not depend on bailouts from others. He has failed on each one of these economic promises.

Inflation has once again risen in Pakistan with prices of most goods and services reaching their highest level in September. “Almost everything people eat, wear and use became significantly more expensive last month compared to the first two months of the present fiscal, adversely affecting the low-middle-income households living from pay cheque to pay cheque. This increase in headline readings was expected as inflationary expectations had already been building up because of the deteriorating exchange rate, escalating international commodity markets and rising energy prices.”

As an editorial in Dawn pointed out, “with the average inflation rate for July-September surging to 8.6pc or slightly above the target, the annualised CPI reading is widely projected to beat the target of 8pc-9pc for the present fiscal year. In its last monetary policy statement, the central bank had also predicted “imported inflation” would feed into headline prices in the later months of the fiscal.”

The government may blame Covid and global issues for this crisis, but the real reasons are “misplaced policy priorities like the blind pursuit of growth, neglect of agriculture, the failure to address domestic supply disruptions.”