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Inflation jumps to 13pc in March
After showing a relative ease for a couple of months, inflation jumped to 13.16 per cent last month because of high prices of food items and a partial increase in prices of petroleum products in domestic market and a slight rise in electricity tariff.
According to data issued by the statistics division here on Wednesday, inflation had fallen from 15pc in December last year to 14.2pc in January and 12.91pc in February because of a government freeze on oil and electricity prices.
The impact of overall increase in inflation last month was mainly because of food prices (56.46pc) and house rent (12.08pc), totalling 68.54pc.
The Asian Development Bank has predicted that the annual inflation could go up to 16pc in the country by the end of June, mainly because of high global food and oil prices. But the ADB said the inflation was expected to fall to 13pc next year.
Prices of food items increased by 17.97pc in March over the same month last year. Prices of non-perishable food items witnessed a surge of 16.81pc and that of perishable items 26.87pc.
The food inflation in Pakistan is higher because food items account for a larger share of the consumption basket, which stood at over 40pc of the consumer price index.
According to the statistics division`s data, prices of fresh fruits went up in March over February by 17.91pc, eggs 14.58pc, chicken (farm) 7.77pc, potatoes 5.91pc, vegetables 4.38pc, tea 3.05pc, milk fresh 2.80pc, gram (whole) 2.71pc, beverages 2.49pc, spices 2.48pc, meat 1.97pc, readymade food 1.51pc, cereals 1.37pc, rice 1.11pc, mustard oil 1.10pc, condiments 1.06pc, dry fruits 1.05pc and milk powder 0.99pc.
Despite the central bank`s move to keep its discount rate at 14pc in the past few months, the non-food and non-energy core inflation slightly surged to 9.5pc in March from 9.2pc in February.
However, experts believe that discount rate is still on the higher side and the current monetary policy stance has failed to curb inflation on the one hand and stymied economic growth on the other.
The house index rent rose in March by 6.63pc, medical care cost by 16.35pc and transportation fare by 10.53pc over the same month of last year. The rise in transportation fare was driven mainly by the increase of 4.92pc in the prices of diesel, petrol 4.90pc, service charges 2.12pc, kerosene 4.28pc and tyre & tube 1.71pc.
The average inflation in nine months (July-March) of the current financial year also climbed to 14.20pc over the same period of last year. The IMF has forecast Pakistan`s annual inflation at 13.5pc by the end of June.
But the statistics showed that the inflation measured through the wholesale price index witnessed the highest ever increase of 25.41pc in March over last year, showing an upward trend in prices.
The trend reflects that the retail prices of manufactured goods will increase subsequently, which will drive up the overall consumer price inflation in the months ahead.
Statistics Division`s secretary Asif Bajwa, however, said that it could not be predicted that how much the general inflation would go up because of an increase in prices of manufactured products. However, he agreed that it would have indirect impact on the overall inflation.
The statistics division`s statistics did not show the impact of the 1.5pc increase in special excise duty and withdrawal of exemption on agriculture products from March 15 on consumer prices in the domestic market.
Inflation jumps to 13pc in March | Newspaper | DAWN.COM
After showing a relative ease for a couple of months, inflation jumped to 13.16 per cent last month because of high prices of food items and a partial increase in prices of petroleum products in domestic market and a slight rise in electricity tariff.
According to data issued by the statistics division here on Wednesday, inflation had fallen from 15pc in December last year to 14.2pc in January and 12.91pc in February because of a government freeze on oil and electricity prices.
The impact of overall increase in inflation last month was mainly because of food prices (56.46pc) and house rent (12.08pc), totalling 68.54pc.
The Asian Development Bank has predicted that the annual inflation could go up to 16pc in the country by the end of June, mainly because of high global food and oil prices. But the ADB said the inflation was expected to fall to 13pc next year.
Prices of food items increased by 17.97pc in March over the same month last year. Prices of non-perishable food items witnessed a surge of 16.81pc and that of perishable items 26.87pc.
The food inflation in Pakistan is higher because food items account for a larger share of the consumption basket, which stood at over 40pc of the consumer price index.
According to the statistics division`s data, prices of fresh fruits went up in March over February by 17.91pc, eggs 14.58pc, chicken (farm) 7.77pc, potatoes 5.91pc, vegetables 4.38pc, tea 3.05pc, milk fresh 2.80pc, gram (whole) 2.71pc, beverages 2.49pc, spices 2.48pc, meat 1.97pc, readymade food 1.51pc, cereals 1.37pc, rice 1.11pc, mustard oil 1.10pc, condiments 1.06pc, dry fruits 1.05pc and milk powder 0.99pc.
Despite the central bank`s move to keep its discount rate at 14pc in the past few months, the non-food and non-energy core inflation slightly surged to 9.5pc in March from 9.2pc in February.
However, experts believe that discount rate is still on the higher side and the current monetary policy stance has failed to curb inflation on the one hand and stymied economic growth on the other.
The house index rent rose in March by 6.63pc, medical care cost by 16.35pc and transportation fare by 10.53pc over the same month of last year. The rise in transportation fare was driven mainly by the increase of 4.92pc in the prices of diesel, petrol 4.90pc, service charges 2.12pc, kerosene 4.28pc and tyre & tube 1.71pc.
The average inflation in nine months (July-March) of the current financial year also climbed to 14.20pc over the same period of last year. The IMF has forecast Pakistan`s annual inflation at 13.5pc by the end of June.
But the statistics showed that the inflation measured through the wholesale price index witnessed the highest ever increase of 25.41pc in March over last year, showing an upward trend in prices.
The trend reflects that the retail prices of manufactured goods will increase subsequently, which will drive up the overall consumer price inflation in the months ahead.
Statistics Division`s secretary Asif Bajwa, however, said that it could not be predicted that how much the general inflation would go up because of an increase in prices of manufactured products. However, he agreed that it would have indirect impact on the overall inflation.
The statistics division`s statistics did not show the impact of the 1.5pc increase in special excise duty and withdrawal of exemption on agriculture products from March 15 on consumer prices in the domestic market.
Inflation jumps to 13pc in March | Newspaper | DAWN.COM
