According to statistics provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday, consumer prices increased by a double-digit percentage in November, with inflation increasing to 11.5 percent from 9.2 percent in October, according to the data.
Unexpectedly, the data-collection organisation said that it will issue the inflation statistics a day earlier than intended. Despite the fact that experts had previously predicted inflation to be in the double digits, the current CPI inflation rate was higher than they had anticipated. Monthly inflation increased by 3 percent as a result of large increases in three indices: transportation, food, housing, and power, all of which increased significantly.
According to Arif Habib Limited (AHL), the rate of inflation in the month of November reached its highest level in more than two years (February 20: 12.40 percent).
A rise of 3 percent in the month-to-month comparison was driven by three sectors: food, transportation, and housing and electric power, according to her.
He went on to say that a month-on-month rise in food group prices of 3.9 percent was larger than anticipated “and did not show up in the weekly sensitive pricing index (SPI).”
Meanwhile, the over 6% gain in the transportation group was in line with the aims that had been predicted.
Samiullah Tariq, the Head of Research at Pakistan-Kuwait Investment Company, agreed with her assessment, stating that inflation spiked as a result of the gasoline cost adjustment, which is shown in the 6.31 percent rise in the transport group.
Following the Monetary Policy Committee’s meeting earlier this month, the national data-collection agency released the most recent inflation numbers available. The benchmark policy rate has been raised by 150 basis points, to 8.75 percent, for a period of one month as a result of the meeting.
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which measures changes in wholesale prices, increased by 27 percent in November, compared to a 5 percent increase in the same month the previous year.
The government has established an average inflation goal for the current fiscal year in the range of 7-9 percent; however, Tawfiq indicated that, based on current economic indicators, it is likely that inflation would surpass the target by the end of this year, according to the government.
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