ISLAMABAD:The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based monthly inflation increased by 12.96% on year-on-year (YoY) basis during the month of January 2022 against the corresponding month of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported Tuesday.
The average inflation rate during the period July-January 2021-22 over same period of the preceding year was recorded at 10.26%.
CPI inflation on month-on-month basis was recorded at 0.39%. The urban food declined by -0.8% and rural food recorded at 0.4% while non food stood at 0.6% and
1.4% for urban and rural respectively.
The major items showing decline in urban are tomatoes (42.88%), potatoes (13.32%), condiments & spices (7.50%), chicken (2.24%), vegetables (1.65%), wheat flour (1.28%), eggs (1.13%), electricity charges (2.52%) and construction input items (0.08%).
The major items showing decline in rural are tomatoes (47.89%), potatoes (12.74%), onions (2.78%), chicken (0.47%), electricity charges (2.52%) and liquefied hydrocarbons (0.19%).
The upsurge in international food and fuel prices is mainly due to fall in the global food production and high demand due to Corona Virus pandemic and supply chain disruptions, which has been transmitted in the domestic prices of these items.
The statement issued by the PBS said December 2021, the month-on-month CPI based inflation declined by 0.02 in Pakistan while it rose by 1.7% in Iran, 13.6% in Turkey, and 5.8% in Zimbabwe.
The statement added that the government is taking policy initiatives, administrative actions and relief measures to control inflationary pressure in the country. Hence the Sensitive Price Indicator which monitors the price movement of 51 essential items recorded a decline of 0.11% on January 27, 2022 over the previous week. The decline in SPI has been observed in last three weeks consecutively.
The decline observed in prices of items i.e. chillies powder 9.1%, potatoes 4.0%, onions 2.9%, eggs 2.2%, LPG 2.0%, chicken 1.7%, sugar 1.1% and bananas 0.6%. During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 8 items decreased, 17 items increased, and 26 items remained stable.