Inflation may go up to 14 per cent
ISLAMABAD: The government has revised its estimates for current year’s rate of inflation to up to 14 per cent from the budgeted target of 9.5 per cent owing to a number of factors, particularly rising food prices as a result of devastations caused by floods.
The government has already informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about the revised estimates and said the rate of inflation measured by consumer price index (CPI) would now range between 13.5 per cent and 14 per cent on yearly basis, says an official, who was part of Pakistan’s 17-member economic team. The team recently held talks with the IMF in Washington.
The official conceded that the 9.5 per cent inflation target set by the federal government was unrealistic to start with. As a consequence, the State Bank of Pakistan has been forecasting it at about 12 per cent while the IMF estimated it at around 11 per cent for the current year.