Pakistan’s consumer inflation eased to 8 percent in December, compared withNovember’s 8.3 percent on the back of a slight decrease in rates ofperishable food items and the transport index.
According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, theCPI inflation General increased by 8.0 percent on a year-on-year basis inDecember 2020 compared to an increase of 8.3 percent in the previous monthand 12.6 percent in December 2019.
On a month-on-month basis, it decreased by 0.7 percent in December 2020compared to an increase of 0.8 percent in the previous month and a decreaseof 0.3 percent in December 2019.——————————
However, higher food prices continued to increase upward pressure oninflation as rates of non-perishable items jumped 16.3 percent year-on-yearduring the month under review.
On the other hand, the prices of perishable food items declined by 0.6%,whereas those of the transport sector fell 3.5 percent, helping bring downoverall inflation.
On a cumulative basis, average inflation during the July-December (FY21)period was 8.63 percent compared to 11.11 percent during the same periodlast year. During the six months, inflation in urban areas averaged at 7.31percent compared to 10.63 percent in rural areas.
The data showed that the CPI inflation in urban areas increased by 7.0percent on a year-on-year basis in December 2020 compared to an increase of7.0 percent in the previous month and 12.0 percent in December 2019.Whereas in rural areas, the CPI inflation increased by 9.5 percent on ayear-on-year basis in December 2020 compared to an increase of 10.5 percentin the previous month and 13.6 percent in December 2019.
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Overall, the SBP expects headline inflation to fall within the range of 7-9percent in FY21.Month-on-Month
The top few commodities which varied from the previous month are givenbelow:
*FOOD*
*Increased:* Eggs (15.67 percent), Spices (6.88 percent), Butter (6.75percent), Dry fruits (4.57 percent), Vegetable ghee (3.07 percent), Cookingoil (2.2 percent), and Fish (1.51 percent).
*Decreased:* Onions (29.12 percent), Tomatoes (27.12 percent), Vegetables(19.18 percent), Sugar (18.07 percent), Potatoes(13.12 percent), Wheat (4.00 percent), Fruits (1.85 percent), and Pulsegram (1.23 percent).
