Who in their right mind could ever believe that onions, a staple in every Pakistani kitchen, would one day cross the 200-mark? Or, that tomatoes being sold at Rs 220/kilogram would be celebrated as easing of the tide. Yet, here we are, in 2022, where a 29.24 per cent increase in the price index means things are slightly better, at least as compared to last week. But while the official statistics may show the back-burning inflation graph gradually flattening after it soared through the roof to a 49-year-high of 27.3 per cent in August, the word on the street still echoes just as gloomily. There is no story of hope as the masses continue to reel under the catastrophic impacts of never-before-seen surges in the prices of goods and services they use on a daily basis. That the Ministry of Finance still feels comfortable in bafflingly broadcasting an “optimistic picture of the economic performance” to the world can at best be described as wishful thinking. Because only in an ideal world, a state that fails to contain a gaping wheat crisis even after spending an overwhelming two billion dollars on imports could toot the tune of its own marvels. One may wonder where all the magical bluster of the famous czar who vowed to rein in the dollar and “bring relief to the common man” has fizzled. Can he not see how the cost of putting a humble meal on the table is fast getting out of reach in all corners of the country? The continuous rise in electricity prices on top of political uncertainty is pushing more and more businesses out of the market every single day. With investor confidence touching rock bottom and literally no sight of out-of-the-box incentives from Islamabad, the government appears to have run out of options on how to keep the boat afloat. All we hear is senseless noise that neither offers solutions nor tidings of a better tomorrow. In the meantime, advice from lending organisations with regard to the exchange rate did not tick the boxes on the magician’s agenda and was, therefore, tossed outside. Whether the sitting coalition sees through the rest of the tenure is a multi-million-dollar question but one thing has already been decided: the finances of the people (they wish to govern) are doomed to sigh from the skid row! *