Pakistan's inflation rate decreased to lowest

The inflation rate in the country has reached its lowest level in six and a half years, attributed to initiatives implemented by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

During the initial five months of the current financial year, the average inflation rate decreased from 28.62 per cent to 7.88 per cent, culminating in a low of 4.9 per cent last month.

On an annual basis, the inflation rate in urban regions has fallen to 5.2 per cent.

A continued reduction in inflation is expected to alleviate the financial burden on consumers by lowering food and transportation expenses.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance unveiled ambitious plans to bring down the country’s inflation rate to 7% by 2027.

According to the ministry’s report, the inflation rate is expected to decrease over the next three years.

The report projects that the inflation rate will decrease from 23.4% to 12% in 2025, and then further to 7.5% in 2026. By 2027, the inflation rate is expected to be reduced to 7%.

In addition to reducing inflation, the ministry also projects that the country’s economic growth rate will increase from 3.6% to 5.5% over the next three years. The primary balance is expected to improve from 1.02% to 0.5% of the economy.

The report also outlines plans to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio, which is expected to decrease from 68.6% in 2025 to 67.8% in 2026, and then to 66.6% in 2027.

Also read: Pakistan to reduce inflation rate to 7pc by 2027

On December 2, the core inflation measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI) decelerated further to 4.9 percent during November 2024 as compared to 7.2 percent recorded during October 2024.

According to PBS data, the CPI based inflation during the same month of last year (November 2023) was recorded at 29.2%.

On month-on-month basis, it increased by 0.5% in November 2024 as compared to an increase of 1.2% in the previous month and an increase of 2.7% in November 2023.