Inflation rises to 4.2pc in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: As compared to April 2018, there is hike in the percentage of inflation in the month of May 2018. As per study, the increase is from 3.7% to 4.2%, mainly due to escalate in the prices of non- perishable items, energy related products & services.

According to the data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday, it is observed that from the month of January 2018 to March 2018, inflation shows downwards trend. But as per Consumer Price Index (CPI), it showed increasing trend for the second sequential month in May 2018.

CPI keeps a track of prices of around 480 commodities every month in urban areas through the country.

The average inflation in the first 11 months (July-May) of 2017-18 was 3.81pc as compared to 4.18pc in the corresponding period last year. However, it remains below the projected target of 6pc for FY18.

According to World Bank, Pakistan’s economy is likely to grow at 5.8 percent for FY 2017-18 due to improvisation in energy supply, CPEC related infrastructure projects, and constant private consumption growth.

Also, these recent economic developments have helped to grow the country’s GDP growth by 0.8 percentage points over the previous year, touching 5.4 percent in FY17.

Food inflation shows a surge by about 1 percent both on annual and monthly basis. The main reason behind such increase is added by prices of perishable food items which were higher by 4.98pc while those of non-perishable products were up 0.45pc during the month.

Food items whose prices increased the most in May were potatoes, growing by 17.6pc, chicken 7.25pc, fresh fruits 6pc, tomatoes 3.07pc, fresh vegetables 2.62pc, dry fruits 1.83pc, besan 1.71pc, gur 1.34pc, spices 1.3pc, honey 1.25pc, sweat meat 1.22pc, eggs 1.03pc, cereals 0.95pc and meat 0.84pc.

In the same category, betel leaves and nuts dipped 16.5pc month-on-month, wheat 3.3pc, onion 2.57pc, wheat flour 1.89pc, pulse mash 1.65pc, pulse gram 1.32pc, gram whole 1.11pc, pulse moong 0.42pc, wheat product 0.31pc and sugar 0.13pc.

Inflation on nonfood items increased by 6.4% on yearly basis, however 0.2% on monthly basis. There is a huge impact on nonfood items which is bared by the consumers due to escalation in crude oil prices. This is more likely to go up in the month of June 2018, as the oil prices are tend to be further increased.

Core inflation apart from volatile food and energy prices, was recorded at 7% yearly and 0.2% on monthly basis, it has been gradually rising for the past few months.