“But what’s going to happen if he wins the election?” Ishaq asked his construction-worker friends as they sat on a row of plastic mats, sipping tea amid a light drizzle. “For us, nothing. It’s just a game of musical chairs for the elites.”
Heads nodded in unison as one among their number spelled out their problems: a day’s worth of food now costs them half their daily wages of about 800 rupees (US$2.82) – leaving precious little money for anything else.
There are also fewer jobs available for day labourers like themselves, who make up more than 60 per cent of Pakistan’s workforce. Most months, there are at least 10 days when they can’t find work, they said.
None of them can afford to pay rent, so they live in ragtag worksite tents or shelter inside the shells of structures as they build them, and whatever money they do manage to save is sent to their families in small towns and villages dotted around the country.
For such workers, Ramadan is a godsend because it’s when Pakistanis from all walks of life give generously to those less fortunate than themselves, as the zakat tax – a religious obligation for practising Muslims – is deducted from the savings accounts of those who can afford it.
Pakistan teeters on bankruptcy as IMF bailout talks end without deal
But funds for philanthropy are running almost as thin as the lentil curry that’s served to Ishaq and friends on small plates with one tandoor-baked roti each. Last week, inflation in Pakistan hit an all-time high of 46.7 per cent as measured by the sensitive price index, which tracks the price of a basket of 51 essentials including food and fuel.
“We’ve obviously had to make compromises because of inflation. It’s become unimaginably high,” said a supervisor at a pop-up kitchen in Islamabad’s Pakistan Town that aims to provide 100,000 pre-cooked to the faithful this Ramadan.
The kitchen, located in a discreet side street near a government housing society, is run by a political party associated with Jamaat-ud-Dawah. The militant anti-India group, also known as Lashkar-e-Taiba, is officially banned in Pakistan, but has been allowed to continue some charitable activities to keep its members occupied and discourage them from joining a resurgent Pakistani Taliban.Prices ‘doubled and tripled’
Hameeda Raja, who manages a welfare association in the middle-class gated community of neighbouring Korang Town, said rampant inflation had forced her to discontinue the distribution of Ramadan care packages to scores of blue-collar workers and struggling white-collar families in the area.
Last year, the group used the 300,000 rupees (about US$1,600 at the time) it collected through cash donations and by selling donated goods to put together dozens of care packages filled with about US$40 worth of groceries such as flour, milk, cooking oil and lentils – sufficient for a large family to “enjoy a really good Ramadan”, she said.
But the price of those goods has “doubled and tripled” in the 12 months since, Raja said after trying to go shopping last week before the start of Ramadan – a claim that’s backed up by the recent inflation figures released by the government.
02:11
Pakistani children drop out of school to boost family income, amid country’s economic crisis
Pakistani children drop out of school to boost family income, amid country’s economic crisis
Wheat flour, a staple carbohydrate for most Pakistanis, has increased in price by 120 per cent year on year, not helped by the rupee depreciating by 54 per cent over the same period.
Cooking gas costs 108 per cent more than it did a year ago, and diesel fuelling the trucks carrying produce from farm to market is 103 per cent higher.
But that’s nothing compared to onions, the foundation upon which most curries are built, which shot up in price by an eye-watering 228 per cent over the past 12 months.
And Pakistan’s pain looks set to continue. Negotiations with multilateral lenders such as the International Monetary Fund and bilateral partners including Saudi Arabia have dragged on since August, preventing the release of funding urgently needed to avoid an eventual Sri Lanka-style default.China lends Pakistan a further US$700 million
Foreign exchange reserves held by Pakistan’s central bank stabilised somewhat at US$4.6 billion on March 17 after key ally China rolled over a US$2 billion loan, having refinanced another US$700 million loan in late February. But those reserves are still barely enough to pay for a month’s worth of imports.For philanthropist Raja, the knock-on effect of inflation is that her care packages have now become too expensive to put together, as even half the amount of groceries would cost more money to buy than an entire package did last year.
“We tried our best, but we just couldn’t afford to do it any more,” she said.
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