Pakistan: Lawyers condemn price hike of essential commodities

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA [Pakistan]: The Bar Council of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa condemned the hike in prices of all the essential commodities and staged a province-wide strike of lawyers on Thursday, reported Dawn. Earlier on Wednesday, the Pakhtunkhwa's Bar Council issued a joint statement where vice chairman of the council Zarbadshah Khan and its executive committee chairman Syed Mubashir Shah demanded that the government forthwith abolish the free provision of electricity, natural gas petrol and free air tickets provided to bureaucrats, judges, army officers, etc.

They stated that continuous price hikes especially of essential commodities had badly affected the general public and made their lives miserable. They stated that the legal fraternity would observe a complete boycott of all the courts on Thursday. They directed all the district and tehsil bar associations to hold protest meetings in their respective barrooms.

They also announced that the bar council would provide free legal assistance to people in cases in the consumer's courts, according to Dawn. The cash-strapped nation's economic situation is getting worse day by day. On Wednesday, the State Bank of Pakistan reported that the dollar appreciated by Pakistani Rupee (PKR) 1.40 to reach PKR 304.45 in the inter-bank.

The devaluation of the Pakistani rupee has caused inflation and also compelled the central bank to raise the interest rates, Dawn reported. The Central bank is raising the interest rates to mitigate the repercussions of uncontrolled depreciation of the local currency. “The market is not in control of anyone.

The steep devaluation will continue and even cross the limit given by the International Monetary Fund,” a senior banker said, adding that nobody knows what is next for the exchange rate, reported Dawn. Under the Standby Arrangement (SBA), the IMF will provide USD 3 billion in three installments over nine months and is willing to witness a 20 per cent devaluation of PKR against the US dollar in Fiscal Year 24. However, in less than two months of the current fiscal year, the PKR has devalued by 10.5 per cent or Rs 29 per dollar.

On July 4, when the IMF approved the SBA, the dollar in the inter-bank market was traded at Rs 275.44, which reached Rs 304.45 on Wednesday. “This fast deprecation of local currency is alarming for the government in charge. There must be some pause in the frequent free fall of the rupee,” said Atif Ahmed, a currency dealer in the inter-bank market.