ISLAMABAD: Pakistan continues to face economic distress as its headline inflation hit a record high of 38% in May 2023, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday. The Consumer Price Index has gone up by the record highest, on a YoY basis. This is the highest inflation rate recorded since 1965.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the number stood at 36.4% in April 2023. On a month-on-month basis, inflation in Pakistan rose 1.6% in May.
The breakup of components suggested that food inflation in urban areas soared by a staggering 48.1% in May 2023 compared to May 2022. The rural areas fared no better with 52.4% price rise on a year-on-year basis.
The inflation number is higher than the prediction of Ministry of Finance of 34-36%.
In its Monthly Economic Outlook for May, the Ministry of Finance stated that “the inflation for the month of May 2023 may remain in the range of 34-36%”.
It added that improvement in the global supply chain will ease out domestic prices in the coming months.
According to PBS, the CPI inflation rate in urban areas jumped to 35.1% on an annual basis in May 2023 from 33.5% the month before.
It climbed by 1.5% on a monthly basis in May 2023 compared to a growth of 2.0% in April 2023.
In Pakistan’s rural areas, CPI inflation rose from 40.7% in April to 42.2% in May 2023 on an annual basis.
In May 2023, it increased on a monthly basis to 1.7% from 3% in the previous month.
