Steering through troubled waters

By all means, the monster of inflation is out with a bang touching 27.3 per cent in August — a 49-year high, before slightly receding to 23.2pc in September. The July-August 2022-23 inflation measured by the consumer price index (CPI) was above 26pc against 8.4pc during the same period last year. It dropped somewhat to 25.1pc in the first quarter (July-September) of 2022-23 against 8.7pc of 2021-22. The projections for inflation in the current fiscal year range from 23pc to 30pc. This, coupled with a negligible estimated 2pc economic growth rate following historically devastating floods, could push almost 10 million people below the poverty line, according to World Bank estimates. In such challenging times, the multilateral lenders insist more on long outstanding structural reforms than allowing relaxations to provide financial support at a time when the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves are not enough to finance more than four weeks of imports.