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- Pakistan’s inflation rate stood at 1.5 percent in February and at 20.7 percent during March 2024
- Prices of fresh fruits, eggs, sugar, chicken and readymade garments increased month-on-month
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate dropped to 0.7 percent in March on a year-on-year basis, the country’s statistics bureau said on Thursday, the lowest in three decades amid signs of economic recovery.
Pakistan’s inflation rate stood at 1.5 percent in February and 20.7 percent in March 2024, according to data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in its monthly review of price indices report.
On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 0.9 percent in March as compared to a decrease of 0.8 percent in February. It increased by 1.7 percent in March 2024.
“CPI inflation general decreased to 0.7 percent on year-on-year basis in March 2025 as compared to 1.5 percent of the previous month and 20.7 percent in March 2024,” the PBS said.
The commodities whose prices increased month-on-month included tomatoes (36.35 percent), fresh fruits (18.66 percent), eggs (14.92 percent), sugar (11.48 percent), chicken (10.87 percent), fresh vegetables (6.13 percent), butter (2.70 percent), neat (1.60 percent) and pulse moong (0.70 percent).
While prices of non-food items that increased month-on-month include readymade garments (2.15 percent), tailoring (1.84 percent), liquified hydrocarbons (1.83 percent), cotton cloth (1.74 percent), accommodation services (1.47 percent), hosiery (1.33 percent), education (1.23 percent) and plastic products.
“Pakistan’s CPI for March 2025 has clocked in at 0.7pc, the lowest monthly YoY reading in over three decades,” Topline Securities, a prominent Karachi-based brokerage firm, said.
Aggressive policy rate cuts by Pakistan’s central bank and a series of economic reforms by the government have led to a substantial decline in Pakistan’s annual inflation rate.
Pakistan’s inflation rate rose to a record high of 38 percent in May 2023 on account of surging food and fuel costs as Islamabad withdrew energy and fuel subsidies under a deal agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a financial bailout package.