ISLAMABAD: The inflation rate in Pakistan soared to a record 38 per cent on a year-over-year (YoY) basis in May 2023 and surpassed crisis-hit Sri Lanka’s key inflation rate, pegged at 25.2 per cent for the month.
According to the Census and Statistics Department of Sri Lanka, the key inflation rate eased to 25.2 per cent in May from 35.3 per cent in April. After the protests broke out in the capital Colombo in April 2022 and spread across the country, inflation took a hit and had been rising in the island country.
According to figures from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation reached 36.4 per cent in April 2023 while rising 1.6 per cent month-over-month (MoM) in May.
According to Geo News, inflation during May in Pakistan is the highest since July 1965 — except for a few years in between due to the lack of monthly data.
Brokerage firm Arif Habib Limited noted in a report, “This reading takes 11MFY23 average inflation to 29.2 per cent compared to 11.3 per cent in 11MFY22”, as per Geo News, a Pakistani news outlet.
While consumer prices in rural areas increased by 52.4 per cent year on year, food inflation in urban areas shot up by a staggering 48.1 per cent in May 2023 compared to May 2022.
While noting that inflation reached record highs, Arif Habib Limited economist Sana Tawfiq remarked that on a month-over-month (MoM) basis “inflation clocked higher, up 1.6 per cent”. The analyst told Geo News that increased food, household and apparel expenses were the main causes of the MoM hike. (ANI)