KARACHI: Annual consumer inflation accelerated to 11.04 percent in October from 6.5 percent in the corresponding month a year earlier as food prices and costs of housing, electricity and transportation continued to increase during the month, official data showed on Wednesday.
The inflation reading for October, which came after a delay of about one week, was slightly lower than September’s figure of 11.4%. Similarly, the core inflation, calculated after excluding energy and food prices, slowed down to 7.7% in October compared to 8.4% in the preceding month, it added.
The data shows the urban CPI covers 35 cities and 356 consumer items, while rural CPI tracks 27 rural centers and 244 items. The former grew by 10.9 percent year-on-year in October whereas the latter jumped by 11.3 percent.
The key reason behind the double-digit inflation for the third consecutive month was the spike in prices of food, energy and transport charges, showed the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) bulletin.
The International Monetary Fund has estimated that Pakistan’s inflation may escalate up to 13 percent, but the government’s estimate is around 11 percent, which has already been crossed in the outgoing month.
