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According to a credible research, retail spending in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during Ramazan in 2023 is expected to reach $66 billion with inflation contributing to the growth rather than consumer enthusiasm. The same may hold true for Pakistan as well where rising inflation has turned people’s lives into a huge misery for them.
In this country, the cost-of-living crisis has been worsening on a daily basis. People belonging to even middle and upper middle classes are finding it extremely difficult to make their ends meet. The unbridled inflation has badly hurt people’s self-esteem in a variety of ways. Charities in the country are struggling, albeit unsuccessfully, to aid people in the traditional manner.
Khajla and pheni, which are often used at Sehri, and fruits, particularly banana, along with nutritious meals that are consumed at or after Iftar have become unaffordable for a very large number of Pakistanis.
In other words, millions of Muslims in the global South, including Pakistan, in particular are feeling the pinch of inflation, although inflation is also directly affecting Muslims communities in the West where food prices are rising at the fastest rate in more than 40 years.
In the UK, for example, a large number of Muslims are said to have shifted from lamb to cheaper mutton and chicken.
Rehana Iqbal (Karachi)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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