Weekly inflation eases slightly to 29.24pc YoY
Short-term inflation measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) eased slightly to 29.24 per cent year-on-year (YoY) for the week ending on Nov 10, data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday.
The annual increase in SPI has been on the decline for some time, falling from a peak of 45.5pc in the week ending Sept 1. Last week, YoY inflation was measured at 30.6pc.
The latest PBS data showed inflation was recorded at 0.74pc week-on-week (WoW) compared to 0.53pc last week and a record 4.13pc in the week that ended on Oct 27.
The SPI monitors the prices of 51 essential items based on a survey of 50 markets in 17 cities across the country. During the week under review, the prices of 22 out of 51 items increased, 14 decreased, and 15 remained stable.
The annual CPI inflation surged to 26.6pc YoY in October after it slowed to 23.2pc in September from a 49-year high of 27.3pc in August as the country continued to be in the grip of high food and transport prices.
The central bank has tightened its monetary policy to contain surging inflation and the rupee's depreciation. Since September 2021, the central bank has increased the policy rate by a cumulative 800bps to 15pc, the highest rate since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Soaring vegetable prices, especially onions and tomatoes, due to damage to the standing crops caused by the floods and a massive hike in electricity rates contributed to pushing up inflation in recent weeks.
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Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Pakistan and Dean of Diplomatic Corps Atadjan Movlamov said that Turkmenistan and Pakistan have huge potential of bilateral trade that can be enhanced through people-to-people contacts.
He said that Turkmenistan is rich in energy and can meet energy needs of Pakistan. He said that Turkmenistan wants more access through the sea, as it is a landlocked country. He said that transit trade is important for his country, as the shortest route of trade is through Karachi and Gwadar ports.
He said this while addressing the business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). The ambassador said that Turkmenistan is producing electricity at a very cheap rate and gave a detailed presentation on the TAPI project, which will help Pakistan to meet the energy needs of its growing population.
He said that both countries should be connected through optical fiber cable by Arabian Sea and Pakistan can benefit millions of dollars from it. He said that both countries have 30th years of diplomatic relationship and expressed a desire to strengthen these relations through trade and investment.
Speaking at the occasion, Ahsan Zafar
Bakhtawari, President ICCI said that Pakistan and Turkmenistan enjoy mutually respectful and cordial relations, which are supported by history, culture and religion.
He urged both countries to focus on enhancing bilateral trade and economic relations as they have good potential to do trade in many items.
He said that CPEC provides a good opportunity to increase bilateral cooperation and shift the focus of the relationship to address the socio-economic challenges, build economic linkages and enhance bilateral trade.