Pakistan's Inflation Soars To Record 37.97% Amid Political, Economic Crisis

Pakistan's annual inflation surged to a record 37.97% year-on-year in May as the country is in the grip of political and economic crisis, as per official data available on Thursday.

The country, currently in the throes of a major political as well as economic crisis, is struggling with high external debt, a weak local currency and dwindling foreign exchange reserves, according to a PTI report.

Inflation is measured on the basis of a basket of products and services called the Consumer Price Index (CPI), in which items are divided into 12 major components with different weights, added the PTI report.

According to data released by the Bureau of Statistics, which keep a record of price hike, the highest year-on-year increase was recorded in the categories of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 123.96%, recreation and culture at 72.17 per cent and transport at 52.92%.

In the food group, items whose prices increased the most in May compared to last year were cigarettes, potatoes, wheat flour, tea, wheat and eggs and rice. In the non-food category, the items whose prices saw the highest increase were textbooks, stationery, motor fuels, washing soaps, detergents and matchboxes, stated the PTI report.

Inflation impacted every household in Pakistan since early this year after the government took painful measures as part of the fiscal adjustments demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive a stalled USD 6.5 billion aid package.