The Ministry of Finance (MoF) had predicted a single-digit inflation rate for April 2021, but the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in a report stated that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped to 11.1 per cent in April.
It was the highest rate of inflation in the past 12 months as 12.4 per cent inflation rate was recorded in February 2020.
The MoF had projected CPI to stay below 10 per cent. In its report, CPI was projected to be around 9.5 per cent. The PBS stated that a sharp increase in the kitchen items was recorded in April.
The cooking oil prices increased by 19 per cent, tomatoes price by 81 per cent, chicken almost by 10 percent, sugar 81 per cent and wheat flour 17 per cent.
Electricity rates were also up by 29 per cent when compared to April 2020 tariff.
CPI inflation General: “It increased by 11.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis in April 2021 as compared to an increase of 9.1 per cent in the previous month and 8.5 per cent in April 2020,” said data by PBS.
“On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 1.0 per cent in April 2021 as compared to an increase of 0.4 per cent in the previous month and a decrease of 0.8 per cent in April 2020,” the PBS added.
CPI inflation Urban: “It increased by 11.0 per cent on a year-on-year basis in April 2021 as compared to an increase of 8.7 per cent in the previous month and 7.7 per cent in April 2020. On month-on-month basis, it increased by 1.3 per cent in April 2021 as compared to an increase of 0.3 per cent in the previous month and a decrease of 0.7 per cent in April 2020.”
SPI inflation: “It saw a YoY increase of 21.3pc in April 2021 as compared to an increase of 18.7 per cent a month earlier and an increase of 9.3 per cent in April 2020. On MoM basis, it increased by 0.4 per cent in April 2021 as compared to an increase of 5.7 per cent a month earlier and a decrease of 1.8 per cent in April 2020.”
WPI inflation: “On YoY basis, it increased by 16.6 per cent in April 2021 as compared to an increase of 14.6 per cent a month earlier and an increase of 4.9 per cent in April 2020.”
