Annual inflation eases to 29.4pc in June from May record

Pakistan’s annual consumer inflation remained elevated at 29.4 per cent year-on-year in June but eased sharply from a record high 38pc in May largely helped by a high base effect, the statistics bureau and a brokerage house said on Monday. The data came after the country, facing a deep economic crisis, secured a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday. Month-on-month inflation declined to -0.3pc in June, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said. The bureau’s data showed that the annual increase in consumer prices in June was the lowest since January. Average inflation in the 2022-23 fiscal year (July-June) came in at 29.18pc compared to 12.15pc in the previous year, it said. The data also said that inflation in urban and rural areas increased to 27.34pc and 32.41pc year-on-year, respectively.