Mian Zahid urges govt to address rising inflation

Business Recorder reported that Mian Zahid Hussain, who heads the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, has urged the government to tackle the underlying causes of inflation. He pointed to higher power and gas tariffs, fuel and transport costs, and dearer staple foods, which he said squeeze poor households and raise industrial production costs. He also cited about Rs800 billion in yearly losses at underperforming public-sector entities, plus roughly Rs1 trillion from power-sector line losses, theft and weak recoveries.

He endorsed the World Bank's recommendations and cited the Benazir Income Support Programme as a transparent route to targeted support for low-income households. He welcomed targeted fuel relief but argued that durable progress against poverty needs more than relief schemes, combining macroeconomic stability with investment in people, infrastructure and private-sector-led growth. On artificial intelligence, he said the report sees a productivity opportunity rather than an instant job threat.

He described the World Bank's October 2026 report on the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan as a grim picture for the region. According to the bank, Pakistan makes up 48 percent of the region's extreme poor at the USD 3-a-day line, and regional poverty is still above pre-pandemic levels. He added that Pakistan's poverty rate at that threshold rose 6.4 percentage points between 2018-19 and 2024-25. He also noted the bank's 2027 projections of 3.8 percent GDP growth and 8.2 percent inflation.