Pakistan’s inflation rises to 24.5 percent in December
Annual inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was recorded at 24.5 percent in December, compared to 23.8pc in the previous month, data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Monday.
Inflation rose 0.5 percent on a month-on-month basis, compared with a 0.76 percent rise in November.
Topline Securities said inflation was in line with market expectations.
PBS data showed a double-digit rise in prices of almost all goods except housing, utilities and communication. However, perishable food and transport prices fell by 12.58 percent and 0.81 percent on a month-on-month basis, respectively.
Index-wise increase in inflation YoY:
- Perishable food items: 55.93pc
- Transport: 41.16pc
- Recreation and Culture: 38.49pc
- Alcoholic beverages and tobacco: 36.19pc
- Non-perishable food items: 32.49pc
- Furnishing and household equipment maintenance: 29.23pc
- Restaurants and hotels: 27.37pc
- Miscellaneous: 25.77pc
- Health: 17.45pc
- Clothing and footwear: 17.1pc
- Education: 10.92pc
- Housing and utilities: 6.95pc
- Communication: 1.68pc
Last week, the Ministry of Finance warned about the serious situation facing the country’s economy and predicted that the inflation rate will remain between 21-23 percent during the current financial year.
“For FY23, economic growth is likely to remain below the budgeted target due to devastation caused by floods. This combination of low growth, high inflation and low levels of official foreign exchange reserves are the key challenges for policymakers,” the ministry said in its Monthly Economic Update and Outlook.
