Inflation at 7pc in August

Published September 2, 2014
The falling trend in prices of essential goods shows that the inflation in the next few months will decelerate further. — Photo by Dawn.com
The falling trend in prices of essential goods shows that the inflation in the next few months will decelerate further. — Photo by Dawn.com

ISLAMABAD: The country’s year-on-year inflation stood at seven per cent in August, according to Pak­istan Bureau of Statistics.

Inflation was 7.9pc in July and 8.5pc in August, 2013. The falling trend in prices of essential goods shows that the inflation in the next few months will decelerate further.

Also read: IMF says Pakistan economy on track but inflation looms

The government has lowered the prices of petroleum products, which may lead to further let-up in inflation this month. The government had kept the prices of petroleum products unchanged for the last three months.

Experts say improvement in supply of essential food items, especially vegetable, will help to reduce food prices. Average inflation during the last fiscal year was 8.62pc.

Year-on-year core inflation, which is non-food and non-energy inflation, stood at 7.9pc in August. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 0.2pc.

In August, total food inflation was at 5.5pc from a year ago, non-perishable food items witnessed a surge of 4.35pc and perishable items increased 6.22pc over last year.

Food items whose prices rose include: eggs (19.48pc), fresh vegetables (12.55pc), onions (8.93pc), pulse mash (4.40pc), wheat flour (3.51pc), potatoes (3.13pc), wheat (2.88pc), sugar (2.02pc), honey (1.41pc), chicken (1.19pc), gur (1.15pc), tomatoes (1.13pc), meat (1.03pc) and wheat products (1.02pc).

On the other hand, year-on-year non-food inflation stood at 8.1pc in August.

Non-food items prices that rose in August over the previous month include: motor vehicle tax 1.94pc, personal care 1.08pc, and household servant 1.06pc.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd , 2014

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