Lahore: Haddiqa Riaz, a housewife, now paper clips her list to a small calculator each time she goes out to her local supermarket.

As she pushes her cart down the aisles, laden with a huge variety of goods, she stops every now and then to do her sums and work out how much she has spent. "If I don't the bill at the end just shocks. Prices have climbed so much recently, especially as the dollar has soared against the rupee," she said.

Haddiqa belongs to among the more affluent sections of society. Her husband, a banker, brings home a six figure salary and she herself earns as a teacher. But even then, things are hard and Haddiqa has been learning to budget.

For the less well-heeled, life is almost impossibly tough and is likely to become more so after October 1, when a General Sales Tax of 15 per cent will be added to a range of items.

The imposition of the new tax had been announced in the June budget — but the items it goes on have just now been listed. They include lentils, pulses, vegetables, poultry and other items which appear in many kitchens.

Curtailing cooking

"For girls, who are restricted in what they can do and for whom few leisure activities exist, cooking is one pastime we can indulge in. There are now many TV cooking shows that offer new recipes and classes in colleges over the summer," said Azra Bano, 16.

However with the expected rise in prices her mother has already warned Azra will need to curtail her culinary activities, because, "We can afford meat and other items less often."

The rising cost of living has already affected many aspects of life. This is of course most true for the 30 per cent or so of people who live beyond the poverty line. With subsidies removed from utility bills, multiple rises in fuel costs and rising unemployment, people wonder how to manage.

"We need some kind of revolution or rapid change, otherwise there will be anarchy," said shopkeeper Mohammad Riaz. He reported desperate people visiting his general store to seek a few kilos of sugar or wheat flour or other essential items on loan. "I am not always able to give these and that makes me feel bad," he said.