Pakistan’s Inflation Crisis Deepens with High Commodity Prices

Pakistan's consumer price index (CPI) rose to 12.7% in March from February's 12.2% due to higher commodity prices. 

According to a recent report published by Pakistan-based English daily The News International, the prices of clothes, footwear along with transportation costs in Pakistan saw a big jump last month.

As per the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday, the figure was 9.1% in the same month in 2021.

The South Asian country's nine-month (July-March 2021-22) average inflation was reported at 10.77% compared to 8.34% during the same period of last year. 

Of the things with hiked prices, food and beverages have the most significant share of 34.58%, while utility charges – housing, water, electricity, and fuel – stand at 23.63%. 

Meanwhile, urban inflation rose by 11.9% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in March 2022 compared to an increase of 11.5% in the previous month and 8.7% in March 2021.

Similarly, rural CPI increased by 13.9% on a YoY basis in March 2022 compared to 13.3% in the previous month and 9.5% in March 2021.

Whereas, urban core CPI (excluding the food and energy components) increased by 8.9% YoY in March 2022 against 7.8% in the previous month and 6.3% a year ago. 

Also, rural core-CPI increased 10.3% YoY in March 2022 compared to 9.4% in the last month and 7.3% in March 2021.

Besides, the wholesale price index (WPI) showed a rise of 23.8% in March compared to 23.6% a month earlier and only 14.6% in March last year.

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) also increased 13% in the month under review compared to 18.7% last month and 18.7% in March 2021, added to The News International report.

To put things into perspective, during March, chicken prices rose by 33.6%, fruits 15.17%, mustard oil 8.73%, vegetable ghee 8.32%, onions 7.01%, cooking oil 5.05%, and liquefied hydrocarbons by 7.8% among a host of other essential commodities.