Housewives disappointed with budget 2023-24

Islamabad:Already finding it hard to make both ends meet, housewives were found disappointed after the announcement of the federal budget for the fiscal year 2023-2024 as they found no immediate relief in their household expenses. Talking to The News, many expressed concerns over the increase in the price of basic household products and utility bills. “There is no use in listening to the statistics when it becomes difficult for even feeding, educating your children,” said Saima Azhar, a teacher in a private school. A single parent of two, Saima earns only Rs25,000 per month. “Please ask the budget makers to do me a favour and make a monthly budget for my house for only one month.”

The majority said that they could not understand the jugglery of difficult economic terms and extensive figures. “All I know is the fact that nothing will change after the budget. In fact, it will increase problems,” said Nadia Majeed, a housewife, a housewife who did not bother to listen to the budget speech. Those who keenly listened to the budget and analysis had almost the same opinion to share. “General public is always the last on the priority list of budget makers,” said Samina Jamil.

She was mainly concerned with a decrease in subsidies on electricity. “The analysts were saying there will be a further increase in electricity bills. We cannot afford to pay the bills that we already receive during summer. Any increase will greatly disturb our budget. My only request the government to hold the prices of electricity, sui gas, and water at any cost. We cannot afford any more rise in prices,” she said. Samina said that almost half of her husband’s salary, which is Rs30,000 per month, is spent on utility bills. “We only use fans and a few lights. I wonder why there is such an extensive bill of electricity that is hardly available these days,” she added.

On the other hand, there were PML N supporters who had sympathies with their party leadership. “The economy is in bad shape. We cannot expect miracles in one year. This budget was presented under special economic conditions. I am sure that things will improve with time,” said Neelum Shahzad, another housewife. “With international support, things will improve. We have high hopes for this government,” she said.According to the housewives, an increase of 35 percent per cent in the salaries of government employees is a good step but is not enough to put up with the current price hike. “Increase in tax announced in the budget will bring another wave of inflation. And what about those who are working in the private sector. Even now, after paying house rent, utility bills, school fee and grocery items, the salary ends during the first week of a month while the rest is spent on borrowings,” said Aafia Ghani. Aniqa Rashid, a student of business administration, was impressed with the subsidies announced in the budget and concessions announced for youth to start a business. “Everything is interconnected. Such decisions will affect the overall economy. The impact reaches the general public slowly,” she said.

Aniqa’s mother Amina was not impressed with the offers made in the budget. “For me, what counts is a decrease in the prices of daily use items, utility bills, and smooth CNG supply. No such result is expected,” she said. Amina said that prices of household items kept on rising throughout the last fiscal year without any checks. “Even a layman can guess the hidden negative impact of the big decision taken by the government that they say is not going to affect common people in any aspect,” she said pointing towards the impact of the increase in indirect taxes. Those who work for private organizations failed to connect to the budget. “My income has not increased in the last five years, but prices of household items increase every day with even a tiny economic change. The government claims that prices of flour, lentils, and eggs decreased but a slight decrease doesn’t make any difference after a huge increase that happened a few months ago. And considering the price control mechanism, we don’t expect much implementation of any decrease. One can only hope that the decisions taken for this year’s budget will not add to our problems,”’ hoped Shahida Saleem, a receptionist in a private organization.