KARACHI: Every penny counts for Anser Mai, a widow and mother of three, as Pakistan strains under the high inflation that’s hitting the globe.
She earns about $134 a month working as a domestic helper.
But everyday costs are piling up.
The price of eggs and dairy have put even essentials out of reach. Same for the cost of getting around the fare for an everyday ride on a bicycle rickshaw- has jumped from around $2 to $3.
It may not sound like much but being the sole provider for three kids and family back home means people like Anser are feeling the pinch:
“Sometimes my children eat flatbread with just salt and pepper or pickle. They yearn for good food.”
“I was able to buy this half-kilo of oil for 75 cents a week ago. Now its price is $1.20. What will the poor do? I was able to buy this kilo of sugar for 40 cents a month ago, now it is up to 60.”
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said earlier it expected inflation to remain high after the government removed fuel and power subsidies to secure bailout money from the IMF.
Economists fear low-income and lower-middle-class earners will slide into poverty as a result of current inflation.
Anser, who is illiterate herself, dreamed of a house of her own, good food and her children going to school, but now she said she is losing hope.
“I don’t know. God knows better. We don’t know what will happen to us. How will we survive?”
