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Karachi fourth cheapest city in the world

By Asad Hashim 

A global cost of living survey found Karachi one of the cheapest cities for expatriates. — File
ISLAMABAD: A global survey of most expensive cities for expatriates has rated Karachi as the fourth cheapest city while South Africa’s Johannesburg has been adjudged the cheapest.
The cost of living survey, conducted by consultancy firm Mercer, studied 143 cities across the world. 
At the other end of the scale, Tokyo and Osaka were judged to be the most expensive cities, largely due to the strength of the yen against the dollar. 
The Japanese capital replaced Moscow as the world’s most expensive city for expatriates, and Beijing also moved into the top 10.
The survey uses New York as the base city with an index of 100 points when comparing the cost of 200 items, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
Tokyo scored 143.7 points and was nearly three times as costly as the cheapest city, Johannesburg, which had an index score of 49.6.
Osaka was in second place —making Japan the only country with two cities in the top 10 — followed by Moscow in third, Geneva at four and Hong Kong fifth.
Asian and European cities again dominated the top ranks of the world’s costliest cities for foreigners, but currency swings including a stronger dollar have reshuffled the global rankings, the firm said.
Cities in the United States, China and the Middle East surged from last year. New York jumped from 22nd to eighth place, Beijing is now ninth, up from 20th, while Dubai has climbed 32 places to number 20.
London dropped 13 places from last year to be the 16th most expensive city in the world, while Paris slipped one spot to 13th.—Agencies