August had a multi-decade high for CPI inflation of 27.3% year over year.
According to government data released on Thursday, Pakistan’s consumer price index (CPI) increased by 27.3% in August from a year earlier, reaching a multi-decade high as authorities express concern that widespread flooding in the nation could worsen already soaring costs.
According to a statement from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, price increases in basic goods including vegetables, wheat, and cooking oil were the main cause of the high inflation. The annual CPI inflation rate was 24.9% in July.
According to economists, the inflation rate in August was the highest in more than 40 years.is this the highest inflation ever, everyone wants to know. According to economist and former minister of finance advisor Khaqan Hassan Najeeb, inflation is at a 47-year high since 1975.
According to him, Pakistan experienced inflation of 25.3% in 2008, compared to 29.29% in April 1975.
According to the statistics office, CPI increased by 2.4% from July to August, slowing from 4.3% in the preceding month.As devastating rains destroy crops and disrupt supplies, the price of fruits and vegetables has skyrocketed throughout Pakistan. This is an early indication that the worst floods in decades are causing food shortages at a time of economic turmoil.
Inflation was already out of control for Pakistan’s 220 million residents before the flooding, and the country’s economy is in disarray due to rapidly diminishing foreign reserves and a historic decline in the value of the rupee relative to the dollar.
The majority of the standing crops on more than 2 million acres (800,000 hectares) of agricultural land have been destroyed, according to officials, and farmers are unable to plant new ones.
The government is searching for measures to expedite food imports. According to Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar, an urgent request to authorise the import of vegetables and other culinary commodities from Iran and Afghanistan had been sent to the cabinet on Wednesday.
