Pakistan's inflation rises to 8-year-high

Pakistan's inflation rose to an eight-year-high inflation rate of 10.74 per cent in FY20 (July 2019-June 2020) due to multiple factors, according to official figures.

Surge in the consumer price index (CPI) was witnessed by monitoring the prices of different commodities and services including cost of education, house rent, utility bills and food and beverages, Xinhua news agency quoted the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) as saying.

Inflation remained in an upward trajectory since the beginning of FY20 as the government had to hike prices of many things including gas and electricity tariffs to meet the demands of the International Monetary Fund to win a bailout package for meeting budget deficit.

The country's currency also saw about 25 per cent devaluation in FY20, making the inflation even worse. Last month, the State Bank of Pakistan said in a report that Pakistan witnessed highest inflation in many years.

According to the report, the inflation rate in January reached 14.6 per cent, but later the decrease in petroleum prices and cut in interest rate by the bank, following the COVID-19 outbreak, has lowered the inflation.

Earlier in FY12, the inflation in the country was at 11.0 per cent due to multiple factors including a sharp spike in global commodity prices which exerted strong upward pressure on domestic prices, and excessive public sector borrowing..