Pakistan on track with its IMF program, says Finance Minister

KARACHI: Caretaker Minister for Finance Shamshad Akhar says that Pakistan is on track with its International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, ARY News reported.

Talking to the media in Karachi, she said the economic situation of the country is improving rapidly due to prudent economic policies.

The finance minister maintained that the caretaker government is taking stringent measures to revive the economy.

She said steps are also being taken to bring improvement in the industrial sector. The Finance Minister said actions were also being taken by the government against smugglers.

The weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), dropped by 0.33 per cent during the week ended on October 19, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) report showed Friday.

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the Combined Index was at 277.11 compared to 278.04 on October 19, 2023, while the index was recorded at 213.74 a year ago, on October 27, 2022.

Out of 51 items, the average price of 14 items increased, 17 items decreased, and 20 items remained stable.

Major decrease is observed in the prices of Chicken (10.19%), Onions (4.4%), Rice IRRI-6/9 (3.84%), Bananas (3.64%), Gur (3.4%), Pulse Masoor (2.36%), Sugar (2.22%), and Mustard Oil (2.17%).

On the other hand, major increase was observed in the prices of Tomatoes (20.81%), Potatoes (3.33%), Eggs (1.63%), Salt Powdered (0.91%), Garlic (0.77%), Tea Prepared (0.67%), Bread Plain (0.56%) and Mutton (0.28%).