Pakistan second most expensive country in South Asia: report

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has declared Pakistan as the second most expensive country in the South Asian region.

In the supplement report titled ‘Asian Development Outlook 2022 Supplement’, the ADB predicted that the inflation rate in Pakistan will remain high in the coming months and the value of Pakistani rupee may fall further.

According to the forecast, energy is likely to become more expensive in Pakistan and the rate of economic growth in South Asia has slowed down due to floods adding that the floods in Pakistan and Bangladesh have affected economic growth.

“Flood disruption and damage are expected to slow down real GDP growth in combination with a tight monetary policy, high inflation and an unconducive global environment,” the ADB said in a regular supplement to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022.

#ADBNews: Monetary policy tightening by central banks, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and recurring lockdowns in the PRC are slowing down economic recovery in Developing Asia and the Pacific.

Find out more in ADB’s #ADO2022 supplement: https://t.co/u9eCooQH4s pic.twitter.com/UNz3tNqzwh

— Asian Development Bank (@ADB_HQ) December 14, 2022

The report further stated that the floods have caused significant damage to Pakistan’s economy, causing massive damage to agriculture, especially wheat and livestock.

The ADB projected inflation for South Asia — comprising of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — to increase from 8.1pc in September to 8.2pc in the recent December update.