KARACHI: Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation stood at 9.11% YoY during May 2019; moving up by 0.78% MoM on the back of higher food inflation, whereas higher motor fuel prices and surge in clothing & footwear ahead of Eid shopping also contributed to the jump in inflation.
[the_ad id=”32940″]It will be hard to contain inflation within single digits in the upcoming year; despite an overly ambitious 8.5% target set by the government, a report issued by JS Global said.
The Minister of Planning has given his consent for implementation of new base year (FY16) for CPI. It is pending ECC approval and the new mechanism will provide greater weight in the CPI basket to rural centres to provide a more balanced view of inflationary trends.
One positive takeaway has been the planning minister’s admission of the need of a more autonomous statistics department. However, recent steps to place PBS under the planning ministry seems counterintuitive to that very purpose.