Food prices hike badly affects purchasing power in Pakistan: WB

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has ringed the warning bell for Pakistan in a report over the food inflation in the country, ARY News reported on Saturday.

According to the WB report, food price hike has badly affected purchasing power of the people in Pakistan. “Children are deprived of needed food the families’ purchasing power has dropped 38 percent in Pakistan owing to hike in food prices,” the World Bank in its Food Security update disclosed.

“The food prices are continuously increasing for last 11 months registering 47 percent hike,” according to the report.

“Last year’s devastating floods have soared prices wheat and other prime commodities, while inflicting losses to livestock in flood affected areas,” WB report stated. “Livestock losses have also deprived the flood-hit people from basic foods of milk and eggs,” WB said.

“In neighbouring Afghanistan six million people facing a situation of severe drought. Every nine of 10 families in Afghanistan have insufficient food,” report added.

Global Hunger Index

In the beginning of May World Hunger Index in a report categorized Pakistan as a severely affected country with a score of 26.1.

According to the GHI report, hunger in Pakistan has soared to an alarming level, resulting in Pakistan being included in the category of severely affected countries.

The Global Hunger Index illustrates how much and how many people in different countries are able to access food. This index is updated every year with the latest figures, and it captures the successes and failures of hunger campaigns worldwide.

According to the World Hunger Index 2022, Pakistan was ranked 99th among 121 countries, with a continuous decline in purchasing power pushing people towards starvation.

The global food agency’s report revealed that the average Pakistani household is forced to spend only 50.8 per cent of their monthly income on food, while 36.9 per cent suffer from a lack of food security.

The report shows that 20.5 per cent of the population in Pakistan is facing severe food shortages, and 18 per cent of children under the age of five are malnourished.