US-based fast food restaurant chain Subway has launched a three-inch sandwich in Pakistan, floating a mini version for the first time globally, to tackle inflation in the country. The chain usually offers 6-inch and 12-inch sandwiches. The bite-size sandwich appeared on social media posts earlier in August. A spokesperson for Subway told Bloomberg News on September 13 that the mini sandwich provides 'value' to Pakistani customers.
Pakistan is struggling with Asia’s fastest inflation, witnessing double-digit percentage increases. This, in turn, has fuelled a cost-of-living crisis in the country and to deal with spiraling prices, many restaurants have increased prices or reduced quantities.
Also Read: Pakistan inflation stays high at 27.4% as IMF reforms kick in
While Pakistan’s headline inflation rate cooled for the third straight month in August to 27.38 percent on an annual basis, it still stayed above the target. "It’s not likely to last", said Ankur Shukla, a South Asia expert at Bloomberg Economics.
Food inflation in the South-Asian nation continued to rise by 38.5 percent from a year earlier and the currency fell 6.2 percent in August.
Moreover, the country's $3-billion loan programme approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has further complicated the task of keeping price pressures and declines in its currency in check.
Reforms linked to the debt bailout, including an easing of import restrictions and a demand that subsidies be removed, have fuelled annual inflation, which rose to a record 38 percent in May.
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