ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s inflation rose 7.39 per cent in September 2013 from a year ago, the lowest increase in the past three months.

This was below the general consensus of over 8pc spike in inflation for the month.

Inflation, measured through consumer price index (CPI), decreased by 0.3pc in September from the previous month, suggested data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics here on Tuesday.

The fall in inflation number is mainly contributed by decline in food inflation.

Food inflation fell by 1.5pc in September 2013 from the previous month, because of improvement in supply of perishable products in the markets.

In September, non-perishable food items witnessed a decline of 0.40pc and perishable items declined 8.41pc in September from the previous month.

Experts believed this decline a short term phenomenon because the hike in electricity rates and petroleum products will trigger cost push inflation in the economy and its impact will be visible in the next few months.

Since June 12, 2013 the prices of manufactured items are on the rise because of increase in the sales tax rate from 16pc to 17pc and imposition of withholding tax on various products in the budget 2013-14.

The government has projected an inflation target of 8pc for 2013-14 fiscal year compared to 7.38pc in the year 2012-13. However, the government has revised upward the inflation target to 11-12pc for the whole year.

Core inflation, which is non-food and non-energy inflation, rose 8.7pc in Sept 2013 from a year ago. The core inflation, increased by 0.6pc in September from the previous month, reflecting an upward trend.

To check core inflation, the State Bank of Pakistan recently increased the interest rate by 50 bps as part of the monetary policy to curb inflation. The prices of food items, which registered increase, included tomatoes 29.36pc, onions 26.13pc, tea 25.97pc, wheat 24.31pc, wheat flour 23.56pc, gur 23.16pc, wheat products 17.68pc, potatoes 14.95pc, cigarettes 14.58pc, cereals 12.79pc, chicken 12.56pc, beans 12.42pc and rice 12.30pc.

On the other hand, non-food inflation witnessed an increase of 7pc in Sept 2013 from a year ago. This is mainly because of increase in the prices of petroleum products during the month under review.

Non-food items prices that rose in August over last year include postal services 25.93pc, footwear 18.56pc, woolen readymade garments 18.05pc, text-books 15.92pc, cotton cloth 15.72pc, tailoring 15.46pc, dopatta 14.28pc, cosmetics 14.16pc and cleaning and laundry 13.76pc In the next few months, prices are expected to increase further due to the third consecutive hike in petroleum prices, the rupee depreciation and the electricity charges of industrial, commercial and domestic users, which are all likely to result in increased cost of production and also push up non-food inflation.

The PBS statistics showed that the inflation measured through sensitive price index was up by 9.55pc in September and inflation in the wholesale manufactured products also increased 7.82pc over September last year.