“Govt Expects Inflation to Remain High in Coming Months”

The government Saturday said that headline inflation (CPI) is expected to remain at an elevated level in the months to come.

The Economic Advisor’s Wing (EAW) of the Ministry of Finance, in its Monthly Economic Update & Outlook for April, highlighted food and energy price hikes as key drivers of inflation.

The report further said that currency depreciation and rising administered prices have contributed to jacking up overall price levels. Although global commodity prices are showing a downward trend, however, are still on the higher side compared to the pre-pandemic level.

It said that a slow recovery from flood-led damages has caused the supply of essential crops to remain short of domestic requirements consequently intensifying the inflation. Although, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is enacting a contractionary monetary policy but inflationary expectations are not settling down.

The inflation is expected to remain in the range of 36-38 percent for April 2023. The federal government, in liaison with provincial governments, is closely monitoring the demand-supply gap of essential items and taking necessary measures to ease inflationary pressures, the report noted.