According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), inflation has reached to 11.1%. An accelerated increase has been seen in the prices of fruits, vegetables, chicken, and oil, particularly in Punjab, followed by other provinces. With the commencement of Ramadan, prices rose further, which adversely affected the public.

The Consumer Price Index soared to 11.10% y/y in April. In the previous month, CPI was recorded at 9.1%. This increase in rate of inflation has been considered as the highest in last 14 months. Prior to that inflation peak of 12.4% was observed in February 2020.

Price of food items such as wheat, wheat flour and sugar were recorded in double-digits. The electricity rates in Pakistan showed a 29% increase from last year. The prices of tomatoes increased by 81% followed by 100% increase in the prices of chicken, 27% increase in wheat prices and 42% price hike in eggs.

Both rural and urban cities have seen a significant rise in inflation. CPI Urban and Rural increased by 11% and 11.3% y/y in April 2021 respectively. The food inflation has increased by 15.7%, according to PBS.

The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) increased by 21.3% y/y in April 2021 as compared to increase of 9.3% in April 2020. Whereas, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which shows the prices at the wholesale, rose to 16.6% y/y in April 2021 as compared to an increase of 14.6% a month earlier and a rise of 4.9% in April 2020.

The market expectation had indicated that inflation would remain around 11% due to exponential increase in food items in Ramadan. However, the Ministry of Finance indicated a much lower figure.

This upsurge in prices has greatly hammered the poor population, who are already struggling with economic downturn due to the third wave of Covid-19.