Pakistan's October consumer inflation declines to 26.9%: Statistics Bureau

Pakistan's consumer inflation in October was 26.9% year-on-year compared with 31.4% in September, statistics bureau data showed on Wednesday, as the country awaits its first review following a loan from the International Monetary Fund.
 

The country is embarking on a tricky path to economic recovery under a caretaker government after a $3 billion loan programme approved by the International Monetary Fund in July averted a sovereign debt default, but with conditions that complicated efforts to rein in inflation.
 

On a month-on-month basis, inflation climbed 1.08% in October, compared to an increase of 2% in September.
 

This brings the average inflation rate for the fiscal year (July-Oct) to 28.48%, against the target of 21% for the current fiscal year. Inflation has been in double digits since November 2021.
 

Reforms required by the IMF bailout, including an easing of import restrictions and a demand that subsidies be removed, have already fuelled annual inflation, which rose to a record 38.0% in May. Interest rates have also risen to their highest at 22%.
 

However, some respite came in the form of fuel price cuts and a price-control mechanism announced in October, which caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said are to limit inflation.