ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 8.11 per cent in October over figures for the same period last year owing to constant increase in education fees, house rent and prices of kitchen items.
The data released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) here on Saturday showed that the CPI rose by 0.36pc in October against September 2006. The inflation, however, increased by 8.35 per cent during the July-October period over the same period last year.
The food inflation, which rose by 10.54 per cent during the month under review over October 2005, pushed up the overall inflation hurting the middle- and low-income groups.
Adviser on Finance Dr Ashfaque Hassan Khan told Dawn that the increase in inflation during October was due to Ramazan factor, but he hoped that from November onwards it would start showing declining trend.
Replying a query, the adviser said that the rise in gas price, which has two per cent weightage in the CPI basket, pushed up the fuel and lighting inflation.
Among the food group, the following items registered increase in their prices:
Onion (27.85pc), fresh fruits (11.31pc), vegetable (6.83pc), pulse gram (5.15pc), besan (3.79pc), potatoes (1.55pc), jam, tomato, pickles and vinegar (1.39pc), fish (1.32pc), dry fruit (1.25pc), cereals (1.06pc), mustard oil (0.87pc), sweetmeat and nimco (0.74pc) and wheat (0.64pc).
Similarly, continuous increase in the house rent, doctors’ fees and education bill had also pushed up the inflation in October over the corresponding month last year.
Dr A.R. Kamal, an economist and former director of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, told Dawn that the double digit growth in food inflation was not likely to come down.
He said that the food inflation was rising mainly due to constant increase in price of sugar, fruits, vegetables etc.
Dr Kamal said that the decrease in overall inflation in the coming months was likely due to stronger base of the last year. But this did not mean that there would no inflationary pressure, he added.
The house rent was constantly on the rise during the last seven months. It rose by 0.45 pc in October over September this year.
