Pakistan's inflation rises to record 37.97 per cent

Pakistan’s annual inflation rose to a record 37.97 per cent year-on-year in May, according to official data on Thursday.

Pakistan, currently in the throes of a major political as well as economic crisis, is grappling with high external debt, a weak local currency and dwindling foreign exchange reserves. Inflation is measured on the basis of a basket of products and services called the Consumer Price Index (CPI), in which items are divided into 12 major components with different weights.

According to data released by the Bureau of Statistics, which keep a record of price hike, the highest year-on-year increase was recorded in the categories of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 123.96 per cent, recreation and culture at 72.17 per cent and transport at 52.92 per cent.

In the food group, items whose prices increased the most in May compared to last year were cigarettes, potatoes, wheat flour, tea, wheat and eggs and rice. In the non-food category, the items whose prices saw the highest increase were textbooks, stationery, motor fuels, washing soaps, detergents and matchboxes.

Previously, the highest-ever percentage of year-on-year inflation was recorded in April at 36.4 per cent. With the latest increase in CPI, average inflation has reached 29.16 per cent in 11 months (July to May) this fiscal year compared to 11.29 per cent in the previous year.

Inflation has hit every household in Pakistan since early this year after the government took painful measures as part of the fiscal adjustments demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive a stalled USD 6.5 billion aid package.

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