Lahore [Pakistan]: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in a recent address stated that prices of edible products are lower in the country when compared to other nations in the region. Pakistani local media have reported that Khan has ignored the fact that GDP per capita in the country is far lesser than even Bangladesh which came into existence nearly 24 years after Pakistan. The GDP per capita or the economic output of a Pakistani citizen rests at around USD 1,543 per annum, while it stands at USD 2,554 for Bangladesh, reported The News International. Pakistan’s inflation or the rate of increase in prices is ‘officially’ nine per cent in Pakistan, it is 5.56 per cent in Bangladesh, once deemed a country haunted by abject poverty. The statistics cited above thus mean that a major chunk of 220 million Pakistanis are currently witnessing a double blow; dismal income levels and ever-soaring tariff of most essential kitchen items, the publication said. Further, it added that Pakistan has a nominal GDP of USD 296 billion; it is much healthier USD 409 billion for Bangladesh. It is imperative to note that Pakistani exports are as low as USD 25.63 billion, as compared to USD 37.88 billion when it comes to Bangladesh. Far healthier nominal GDP, good incomes per capita, satisfactory inflation figures and relatively stable export/import statistics in Bangladesh can alone paint a fairly true economic picture of the nation under review and help us all gauge the prosperity levels of their citizens as compared to Pakistan and its residents languishing under the burden of ever-surging tariffs of vital kitchen items and their insufficient incomes, according to The News International.
