ISLAMABAD, OCT 02 (DNA) — Pakistan’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation rate jumped to 31.4% year-on-year, rising from 27.4% in August, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Monday, amid skyrocketing energy costs.
Inflation rose for the first time in four months after the government raised fuel prices to meet the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditions for an ongoing $3 billion bailout programme.
The country is embarking on a tricky path to economic recovery under a caretaker government after a $3 billion loan programme approved by the IMF in July averted a sovereign debt default, but with conditions that complicated efforts to rein in inflation.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation climbed 2% for September, compared to an increase of 1.7% in August. Inflation during the first quarter of the current fiscal year averaged 29%. Quarterly average inflation for 1QFY24 hit 29.04% compared to 25.11% in 1QFY23.
Pakistan’s inflation surges to 31.4% as energy costs skyrocket
According to PBS, the CPI inflation in Urban increased to 29.7% on a year-on-year basis in September 2023 as compared to an increase of 25.0% in the previous month and 21.2% in September 2022. On a month-on-month basis, it increased to 1.7% in September 2023 as compared to an increase of 1.6% in the previous month and a decrease of 2.1% in September 2022.
CPI inflation in rural increased to 33.9% on a year-on-year basis in September 2023 compared to an increase of 30.9% in the previous month and 26.1% in September 2022. On a month-on-month basis, it increased to 2.5% in September 2023 as compared to an increase of 1.9% in the previous month and an increase of 0.2% in September 2022. — DNA
 — Pakistan's Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation rate jumped to 31.4% year-on-year, rising){kind=link}