Inflation, surging expenditures persist: MoF
While painting an otherwise rosy economic picture at the fag-end of its rule, the caretaker government on Wednesday conceded the persisting inflationary trends and rising pressures on current expenditure mainly due to the policies of the government and the State Bank of Pakistan, respectively, continue to remain critical challenges, needing prudent policies of the next government to strengthen economic activities. “The first half of FY24 has ended with economic stabilisation”, boasted the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday almost a week ahead of general elections while conceding that elevated inflationary “challenges persist in the form of supply chain disruptions and increased utility prices”. Moreover, “the significant challenge is higher markup payments due to the high policy rate leading to a sharp rise in current expenditures”, said the Economic Advisors’ Wing of the Ministry of Finance in its monthly economic update & outlook with a disclaimer that “due to mounting markup payments in response to the high policy rate, the expenditure is expected to remain under pressure during the current fiscal year”.