PM Shehbaz terms drop in inflation 'testament' of effective measures

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Monday expressed satisfaction over the drop in inflation in the country to a single-digit, hailing the government’s economic team for their efforts, ARY News reported.

“The inflation rate of 9.6 percent is a testament to the government’s effective measures,” PM Shehbaz said in a statement issued here. He said that the economic team’s hard work has started yielding positive results.

PM Shehbaz said that the Ministry of Finance’s outlook report predicts a further decline in inflation in September, which he termed as “good news” for the nation.

PM Shehbaz Sharif said that the Pakistan Muslim Nawaz’s (PML-N) federal government led by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif brought down the inflation rate to a single digit in 2018.

“The economy is not only stable but also on the path to progress,” PM Shehbaz said.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported that Pakistan’s headline inflation clocked in at 9.6 percent on a year-on-year basis in August 2024 as compared to 27.4percent in August 2023

The inflation reading was back into single-digits after a span of three years, showed Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data. Back in October 2021, CPI inflation stood at 9.2percent.

On a month-on-month basis, CPI increased to 0.4percent in August 2024 as compared to an increase of 2.1% in the previous month and an increase of 1.7percent in August 2023.

In its monthly economic outlook, the finance ministry had stated that it expects inflation in August to range between 9.5percent and 10.5percent.