A Different Perspective of Pakistan’s Economy: The Structure of Expenditures and Prices, 1975-81

This paper presents comparisons of the purchasing power of the Pakistani rupee in 1975 with those of the currency units of 33 other countries in the same year, based on the UN International Comparison Project and examines relative price structure in Pakistan compared to those in other countries. Pakistan’s price level and structure are similar to those of many developing countries, although the prices of investment goods were unusually high. The paper also updates the results to 1982 and finds that the decline in the purchasing power of the rupee is fairly consistent with relative inflation rates.