The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in its report submitted to the National Assembly maintained that the federal government raised the gas rate by 319 percent in February 2024 and by 520 percent in November 2023.
Similarly, electricity prices were raised by 35 percent in November 2023 and 75 percent in February 2024. According to the report, the total increase in inflation has been exacerbated by the historically high rates of gas and electricity.
Meanwhile, the prices of essential commodities have increased significantly over the past five years. It added that the price of sugar increased by 53.5 percent, while palm oil prices rose by 61 percent during the same period.
Furthermore, the prices of soybean oil, wheat, and crude oil have increased by 35 percent over the past five years.
Pakistan to reduce inflation rate to 7pc by 2027
Earlier on December 6, Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance unveiled ambitious plans to further control the price hikes and bring down the country’s inflation rate to 7 percent by 2027.
According to the ministry’s report, the inflation rate is expected to decrease over the next three years.
The report projects that the inflation rate will decrease from 23.4 to 12 percent in 2025, and then further to 7.5 percent in 2026. By 2027, the inflation rate is expected to be reduced to 7 percent.
In addition to reducing inflation, the ministry also projects that the country’s economic growth rate will increase from 3.6 to 5.5 percent over the next three years. The primary balance is expected to improve from 1.02 to 0.5 percent of the economy.
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