Inflation rate in country falls to four-year low – Pakistan

The Department of Statistics has said that the rate of inflation in the country fell to the lowest level in four years.

According to the spokesperson of the Department of Statistics, the inflation rate in September 2024 was recorded at 6.9 percent, while the inflation rate in August 2024 was 9.6 percent.

Mohammad Sohail, CEO of Topline Securitators, said that due to the State Bank’s strict measures against dollar money laundering, the annual rate of inflation has decreased.

According to the Bureau of Statistics, a 0.5 percent decrease in inflation was observed on a monthly basis.

Experts attribute the slowing inflation trend to several key factors, including a higher base effect, lower global commodity and energy prices, and a stable exchange rate.

It should be noted that the statement of the Department of Statistics has come at a time when Optima’s group leader and former caretaker federal minister Gohar Ijaz had said yesterday that inflation has been brought under control, there is a need to increase exports. The reason is the fall of the Pakistani rupee.

A four-year history of inflation

At the time of the July 2018 elections, the inflation rate was 3.7 percent. Which increased to 5.2% in the first two months of the Imran Khan government i.e. till September 2018. But then from February 2019, inflation started to increase. This was the time when the approval of the IMF program for Pakistan was getting delayed. In July 2019, when the IMF finally approved the loan, Pakistan’s inflation rate had reached 8.4 percent.

Inflation reached 14.6 percent by January 2020 but has since declined. By January 2021, it had risen again to 5.7 percent. But from the next month, he raised his head again. When Imran Khan’s government ended in April 2022, inflation was at 13.4 percent.

Due to the political crisis in the country and the incompleteness of the IMF program, inflation increased sharply. Inflation reached a record high of 38 percent in May 2023 under the PDM government.

After that inflation came down. When general elections were held in Pakistan in February 2024, the rate of inflation was 23.1 percent.

After the elections, the pace of inflation slowed down. For the first time in August, inflation reached single digits and was recorded at 9.6 percent.