I think there are lot of similarities between Karachi and Bombay! However bombay is a shade better than Karachi in pricelevel, it looks! g.k. natarajan

Karachi should phase out all the polluting industries and shift the harbour away. Having a comparatively higher literacy rate it should focus on high tech industries. Lahore and other big cities should follow suit.

This Guy actually wants to work hard. Our society impel him to ride rakshaw instead of doing some Creative/Productive work. There are plenty of Ghulam Nabi who are being spoiled in our society. There should be a forums/Blog which can give the idea so that we can align Ghulam Nabi type of people and utilize them even just for an hour in a day.

If there were 1 or 2 kids per family then there would be no poverty. See how China has performed after limiting 1 kid per family.

He can meet his needs. The problem is that our resources cannot bear the size of the population. How on earth can a working middle class man properly feed, clothe and educate more than 1 or 2 kids? For a rickshawallah it is impossible.

I have lived in Karachi most of my life and I am aware of the situation being confronted by the people. The whole problem lies in the fact that people need to be educated in birth control, people like the poor rickshaw driver featured in this article. Most of the families in Karachi that are mostly uneducated are really big families struggling in life due to this reason. Trying to provide a reasonable standard to your children without basic education is not going to be easy. Things will get worse in years to come. The population of Karachi is almost 18 million (official) and the city is bursting at the seams. Corruption is strife at all government levels and there is no solution to the problems in the distant future. Those who could manage to flee the country have already done so.

Dear Tanzeel, Yes, democracy is the best revenge, but the situation is totally change in our country. Prices are rising every day i.e. Petroleum prices are decreasing in international market but in our country these are increasing. We have excess stock of "Wheat" right now but the flour prices are not in stable condition. The sentence in my opinion is right for the current situation i.e. might is right.

Agreed. Gentleman but who bells the cat? Azhar Malik USA.

Mr. Tanzeel, Its foolhardy to even think that Karachi is one of the cheapest cities in the world. Take a look at the inflation its sky rocketing and income levels are stagnant. How can one expect to the general public to meet their expeneses and save in such a scenaro??? Lets be realistic and face the bitter reality that we live in an era of rising prices.

All, I left Karachi when I was 17. I am in US for the last 10 years. I have seen lot of changes in my home city, and after reading all the remarks that you all have written I came to an judgement that Karachi is the City that never Sleeps.

Very well said!! The corrupt politicians have all the luxuries in the world when the common man who elects these people and we are the ones who suffer!!!

Assalam o alikum all! A human being is working 18 hours a day and still can not meet the ends. That's scary. There is something terribly wrong with this picture. This is an example of social injustice and human rights violation. Let

Good point Talha.

Tanzeel, 4th cheapest only for the expatriates, which does'nt mean anything. Its like someone moving from Osaka to Tokyo and saying Osaka is cheap.

Talha dude. I donk think this rickshaw driver is into big screen tv or latest cellphone. I bet hes just working long hours to get by and could hardly provide decent quality of life let alone good education to his kids.

We our self should blame for this price hike.

If inflation Rate & Prices grows in this speed one day come when we will buy a Roti of thousands :).

Dear Qasim, How can you expect anyone who does not have enough to meet their ends to start a business. What percentage of our population is living under poverty line? Can they make a choice in their career or start a business?

I find it absurd that people think that protesting inflation is going to solve anything. Basic high school economics tells us why we are experiencing inflation. Here are some tough steps that need to be taken 1. Excess demand (more mouths to feed). 2. Electricity is not a right, since it costs money to be made, it needs to be paid for. 3. Electricity demand must be reduced by increasing its price, and allowing others to come and produce it 4. People need to pay taxes! Inflation is caused by excess demand, which can be curtailed by the government by increasing interest rates, which will stifle growth. Excess liquidity (ease of loans) in the market increases spending, people become rich, buy lots of A/Cs. Lots more TVs and ACs means more electricity demand.

What ever the perception of people about this city, but still majority of people love Karachi & love to be Karachi-ite so to overcome their economic crisis they don

The current inflation rate is 20% signifying that it is nonsense to claim that the city is cheap. When you talk about a city being cheap or expensive, you got to talk in absolute terms which is previous prices in the city and current prices. That is what measures how cheap or expensive a city is. Comparative terms do not measure it. Comparative terms measure exchange rate efficiency not whether a city is cheap or not

Well said Tanzeel..

What I think, that what ever is going on in Karachi or in Pakistan is not good, government should take notice of all price hikes, think of atleast poor families who can only eat one meal per day and sometimes that is also not possible, people of Pakistan wake up when there is still time otherwise it will be too late, make Karachi the way it was before, not like today.

No more tanzeel. Plus you need to compare incomes as well. If your spending less then your earning less as well. And for your information Pakistan's saving rates are the lowest in the region.

Inflation .The restaurants are full....McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, Bar B Q Tonight, Arizona Grill, Nandoos and the list goes on. Do you still think we are facing inflation :) By the way, We all are responsible for this. How do you fight inflation. Just look at the picture the price of sugar rises and everyone tends to store more and more sugar in their houses. For God Sake, you cannot fight with this kind of attitude, by doing this we are encouraging them to earn more and more. The political parties whom we support. Nobody is protesting against inflation. Just giving statements in the newspapers in not enough.

If prices have increased, it has hit businesses also. Employers are also facing a hard task running business or they might as well close down and leave hundreds and thousands un-employed. Running a business also has costs and it also has sky-rocketed. And even employers are facing a tough task running at lowest profits. This recession is all over the world. My advice to all is to stay put.

If only Pakistan had implemented population management program effectively. There would not have been such a drain on our limited resources.

Its true that inflation is sky rocketing but I guess our dissatisfaction has more to do with our never ending needs. The things that were considered as luxuries 5-10 years back are now considered to be necessities now. We got to think and thank the ALMIGHTY for whatever HE has given us and got to be moderate and watchful in our expenses.

Until each and every Pakistani has enough to feed his hungry children's, our politicians and leaders should be denied all the luxurious perks they receive as part of the government. Otherwise, people will one day raise again this injustice. Iftikhar USA.

Brothers, No matter which currency you use Karachi is still cheap. If you buy one kg of sugar or anything else in New York and compare it to Karachi I bet you will come out cheaper. Our problem is we have too much perception and no much reality. I wish more people can visit outside of Pakistan to learn that it is not a bed of roses overseas.

TANZEEL Let's assume for a second Karachi might be considered in the list of cheapest cities in the world but there are no free services here, no education no health services no cheap fees for justice these all things serve as a cherry on the top, Where you have limited income to be distributed in different areas and terrorists attacks leave lockouts for 3 days atleast which makes people weep and die (lower class) who are breadwinners. Cheers.

I know it is the darkest time of our life. But my dear friends you know when the night is too dark? Just before the first light of the morning. so be optimist, god help those who help themselves.

Whatever it is

This leads to another pertinent argument; Are we better off after ushering in of Democracy of did we have better conditions living under the despot (PM). I adher to the latter but am immensely interested in readers views.

Then how come so many people have nothing to eat?

Well the per capital income ain't that high either so that kind of argument really doesn't apply here.

We need not to assume when reality is here, Karachi is world

The price hike is due to growing national debt and it's repayment with interest. Amazingly the borrowed loan went into the pockets of the big fish the so called leadership of Pakistan. Currently the rest of the citizens survives on a loaf of bread in trying to pay off even 5% of the borrowed loan because they truly don't understand how compound interest works. There is no difference between a World Bank and a Fedual lord, once you are indebted to them you become their slave.

It's amazing from other countries to see how people of middle and lower class survives there. Prices are almost at par with US dollar for Grocery, Fresh produce Restaurants and Utility as what I noticed in my recent trip. But quality of food and everything else is very bad. Only Cheapest thing seems there is SMS.

Tahir Razvi's family is affiliated with current administration in Pakistan. He think he is allowed to make such claims without understanding the core issue.

Hi All, My father runs a successful business in Pakistan and until a few years back was making roughly Rs. 10m a year. Most would find it hard to believe but even we have seriously started to feel the pinch. Costs of staff have doubled over the last decade and overheads (electricity in particular) have increased three-fold. Together with this, the global recession and reduced consumer demand has meant that revenue has not increased for almost 5 years. At this point, our income has fallen to Rs. 6m a year and things have become extremely difficult for our father. By the grace of Allah, we have been blessed with good health and all the necessities of life one wishes to get but even for us it is becoming incredibly hard. This makes me pity the most unfortunate in our country who are probably going through an impossible situation.

Whatever it is the prices in Pakistan is still better than where I live, Man I went to Karachi last year and was amazed with the prices, I wish we can have the same prices here.

Tahir, Well I should advice you to come back to Pakistan and live here. You will get to know how low prices are here.

Prices have sky rocketed during the past few years , we as expatriates even feel the pinch when we visit pakistan, so can well imagine the karachites earning and spending in rupees.!!!!!!!!!!!

Qasim, I would like to address you and your comments. You live in Pakistan, and not in America so keep that in mind. Every single person in Pakistan does not have the ability to choose their profession, rather it is a survival for most. I wish everybody in the world had your mindset, because you just solved all of Pakistan's problems in a few short sentences. Education can take you a longer way than health can, just remember that. The most important thing to consider in regards to an improvement in the standard of living. Everything else stems from a sound education, since you said health, health is provided by Allah, and he gives people the knowledge, hence education. Start looking at things how they are and not how you want them to be.

I am myself a 'victim', like the most of the other citizens of this city. There seams no options available but to work longer and most of the times with multiple jobs. Your first job isn't paying you enough and in real terms your income is dwindling day by day. I wish we all could get a pay raise with every increase in price. So left with no option one has to manage a second time. it could vary from giving tutions to kids to a data entry jobs to a call centre job. The city never sleeps because we don't - or not allowed to.

Although earning is never easy in all the times, but in recent times and especially in Pakistan now a days, it is very much tough. Too many things to face, for example the tough competition in service industry, less benefit against too much hard work. We have to be strong and self motivated to earn our livings. May Allah give some sense of responsibility to our leaders towards their jobs. Ameen

In my opinion! We can manage our daily habit of expenses decrease to face challenges on this modern age. Business is more effective then employ of a firm. Every person who joins profession the first aim to come in professional life make career to grow up for bright future, it depend on the person which field is most better to make him rich. Every thing is ok but first take care of health is most important. Because "Jaan Hai Too Jahan Hai"

Prices of everyday consumer items have risen approximately 50 percent over the last two or three years while incomes may have increased by 15% to 20%. This has created a significant drag on the budget of the common working man causing hardship and misery all around. Essentials such as medicine & health care, schooling, fuel, electricity (when available) are soon becoming luxuries only affordable by the rich. May God help us all.

It is really sad that majority of the peoples have to work hard and for long hours to meet their ends. Satisfaction of earning through honest means compensate for the hardship it brings. It is said that "it is OK to dirty one's hands for living rather than dirtying one's face" This Rickshaw driver will not require medicine to sleep. His conscious is not eroded with dirt. AH

Like a good friend of mine in Economics once said, Pakistan does not have inflation it is in Stagflation, In simple terms, we are headed towards a big Collapse.

Interesting Article. This is true, that inflation is all time high in Pakistan. But there has been no time, except maybe uptil 1970s, that inflation was under control in Pakistan. You hear the old people quoting how easy it was to live on few hundred rupees back then. But now, with times, our needs and lifestyle have also changed. People in middle and lower middle class are struggling for survival. But there are many costs that can be further cut. People have started to live on "Borrowed" items, just as the people in the West. Credit cards, and other such scheme to buy things on installments have made people dependent on many things you can live without. Each item that we see around us, for example most of us need computers to type such blogs, have acquired such items, as well as cell phones, PDA's, motorbikes, even cars on installments. These raise the monthly expenses exponentially, leaving little spending budget on the absolute necessities like housing and food. What about keeping up with times, people celebrating "Valentines Day" in Pakistan, now a days, we never hear our parent or grand parent whom lived young in 1970s (the cheap, affordable era), talking about any such luxuries. So, to some extent we are also to blame for such miseries. Do away with such expensive consumerism and buying on credit, and live simple lives. That will not ameliorate the situation entirely but atleast it will give some relief.

Haha well said tanzeel , too sarcastic and nicely summed up ;) kudos!

The price hike, especially with regard to Mutton, Chicken and Beef has hit the common man harder than others. The increase in fuel prices was already gravely felt, but with a price hike such as this, I am left to wonder as to how I would earn my living if the prevailing circumstances persist over a significant period of time. This blog makes perfect sense. For a rickshaw driver, living in a crippled economy, nothing would be better than operating in a city like Karachi, where the diverse population, along with the vibrancy which surrounds the city provides an opportunity to at least gain some compensation for the hike. It wouldn

Dear Qasim Bhai, Jaan ke liye khaana bhi chaahiye... aayega kaise? Everybody advices... it is the most easy thing, however, reality bites. Our sympathy and best wishes to all hard working people, who actually keep economy running.

Sorry to say but how can you compare apples with oranges????

True! I hired a taxi at 12:30 am at night to reach home during violence in the city a month back, as I was chatting with the driver I came to know that he only drives his taxi from 8pm to 8am in the morning, reason being that he gets paid more working late hours & that he doesn't have to worry about blocked roads & traffic jams which make the journey quick for his commuters & easier for him.

"Democracy is the best revenge" -- Remember ?

Ammar, I agree with you. It seems quite cheap if you have foreign currency to spend in a poor country like Pakistan. No wonder the prices seem just too low. Its different ball game if you earn and spend in rupees.

Tahir, Nice joke. you can't be serious in you comment cause if you are comparing the prices then do compare the salaries as well,

We are facing the decrease in income and increase in ever increase in cost of living. first we spent from the savings. and now the savings are at the bottom. Now only way of reducing the expenditure is to 'fast'

Believe it or not but Karachi is still considered one of the cheapest cities in the world.

Dear All, It is really inflation out of control for lower and lower middle class. It is also vulnerable for these to drop down in the social status or will have to work extra for other income inspite of having one job.I have seen most of the educated youngsters (entry level or new joiners of any company) are trying to work extra hours either as tutor or any easy business and are spending their four to 5 extra hours to overcome their expenses which have been increased due to last 2 years price hikes.