HYDERABAD (UCAN): “We don’t have resources and expenditure is increasing. The salaries are low and we can’t increase school fees,” Bishop Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad, Pakistan, said as the country’s Church leaders struggle to run parishes and educational institutions with inflation hitting record levels.
The bishop was speaking on the sidelines of a five-day annual budget meeting that got underway at the bishop’s house on June 13.
The Pakistani rupee has slumped to an all-time low of 205.50 against the US dollar resultuing in a huge impact on Church-run institutions.
“We have been affected very badly. The whole team is scratching their heads. We are the only diocese in the country that tries to follow the budget. But this time we are worried about how to draft it,” Bishop Shukardin said.
Financial markets have taken a hit since the coalition government unveiled a 9.5-trillion-rupee [$368 billion] federal budget for the fiscal year 2022-2023 in the National Assembly at the beginning of June amid strict conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund [IMF] for the revival of its US$6-billion [$47 billion] loan programme.
Sadly, the allocated money never reaches us. A member of the National Assembly offers support once in a while as the churches have no direct link with the government. The government should think of vulnerable groups and how to help them in a transparent way
Bishop Samson Shukardin
The government also increased the defense budget by nearly six per cent to over 1.45 trillion rupees [$56 billion] in a bid to meet the needs of the armed forces, including their enhanced salary requirements.
The budget allocations for vulnerable communities included 62 million rupees [$2.4 million] for the Pakistan Minorities Welfare Fund and 83 million rupees [$3.2 million] for the Special Fund for Welfare and Uplift of Minorities.
Bishop Shukardin is not enthused. “Sadly, the allocated money never reaches us. A member of the National Assembly offers support once in a while as the churches have no direct link with the government. The government should think of vulnerable groups and how to help them in a transparent way,” he said.
Meanwhile, consumer price index-based inflation rose in May to 13.8 per cent year on year, the highest in two-and-a-half years.
Father Younas Riaz, parish priest of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church of Chak [village] No. 17 in Mianwali, Punjab province, has been posting sarcastic posts on Facebook since the government increased the price of petrol by 60 rupees [$2.30] per litre last month.
“What a move, IMF. Have mercy, Mr. Prime Minister,” he wrote, referring to the prolonged power outages.
Finance minister, Miftah Ismail, said on June 13 that if the government does not abolish subsidies on petroleum products by July, then the country would default.
He claimed to have told prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, to make a tough decision in order to avoid becoming another Sri Lanka.
