Inflation hits 24.5pc in December

ISLAMABAD: The inflation, measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 24.5pc in December 2022 December on year-on-year (YoY) basis, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said in a report on Monday.

On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the inflation increased to 0.5% in December 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.8% in the previous month, the data showed.

“CPI inflation General, increased to 24.5% on YoY basis in Dec 2022 as compared to an increase of 23.8% in the previous month and 12.3% in Dec 2021,” said the PBS.

Prices were up 0.5% in December from the previous month, the bureau said in a press release.

Despite around 2.8% slowdown in the index movement, the prices of the majority of the consumer goods remain out of reach of the people.

The inflation rate had been in line with the Ministry of Finance’s expectations, which ranged from 23% to 25%.

As per PBS, CPI inflation in urban areas increased to 21.6% on year-on-year basis in December 2022 as compared to an increase of 21.6% in the previous month and 12.7% in December 2021.

On MoM basis, it increased to 0.3% in December 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.4% in the previous month and an increase of 0.3% in December 2021.