Inflation adversely affected most countries globally: PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday that Pakistan has fared relatively much better while the inflation adversely affected most countries globally, ARY News reported.

PM Imran Khan said in a Twitter message, “While an unprecedented rise in commodity prices internationally has adversely affected most countries in the world as a result of Covid lockdowns, Pakistan mashaAllah has fared relatively much better.”

While an unprecedented rise in commodity prices internationally has adversely affected most countries in the world as a result of Covid lockdowns, Pakistan mashaAllah has fared relatively much better.https://t.co/KCKt8RipNs

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 7, 2021

PM Imran Khan also shared a video of the spokesperson for Finance Adviser Shaukat Tarin, Muzammil Aslam, in which he was providing the statistics of rising inflation across the globe.

READ: PM IMRAN KHAN ANNOUNCES RS120BLN RELIEF PACKAGE FOR 130MLN PEOPLE

At the beginning of his video, Muzammil Aslam highlighted the allegations regarding the disastrous state of the national economy and common questions being raised about the rising prices of essential commodities.

He responded to the allegations, saying that he found no answers to his questions regarding solid statistical data for proving the claims about the national economy.

He admitted that the prices of essential commodities have risen across the globe. Aslam, then, provided the global statistics about inflation, saying that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has reported the 3.9 per cent rise in prices of food items from September to October.

“According to World Cereal Index, a rise up to 3.2 per cent was recorded during the same period. The edible oil prices that had never seen a rise earlier increased up to 9.6 per cent [globally]. It is the consecutive fourth month for recording a hike in prices of essential commodities.”

READ: STEPS TAKEN TO MITIGATE IMPACT OF INCREASING INFLATION: PM IMRAN KHAN

Muzammil Aslam said that the prices of dairy products were increased up to 2.6 pc during the last month. He added that the countries were facing inflation globally due to the coronavirus pandemic situation.

He then highlighted the positive economic indicators of Pakistan, saying that the country had witnessed the worst record of exports during the past years. The export volume has now increased as the country recorded a 17.5 per cent rise in the month of October and a 25 per cent hike during July-October.

READ: PM IMRAN KHAN’S RS120BN SUBSIDY PACKAGE: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

Aslam said that it would be a record volume that the export volume is likely to hit $30 billion during FY22. The textile export increased up to $6 billion during July-October, breaking its own record again and again. He quoted a textile analyst that Pakistan’s exports are likely to be recorded at $22 billion during FY22.

Muzammil Aslam said that the country’s tax collection rate is increased up to 37 per cent and 32 per cent in terms of income tax during the last four months. He added that the tax collection rate was also hiked due to an increase in income. The country collected Rs151 billion additional income tax as compared to the previous year.

He said that the import bill of non-oil imports was decreased up to 12.5 per cent, making a difference of $750 million. The growth rate of GDP, agriculture and industry is satisfactory, he added.

Aslam also responded to the allegations regarding no special allocation for the middle-class segment in the financial package announced by the federal government. He said that the government gave concessions on the usage of additional electricity units up to Rs5 to Rs7 per unit from November 2021 to February 2022.

He claimed that the sugar prices will go down after the record sugarcane crop, whereas, the food prices will also witness a decrease in the coming days.