ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate fell to 4.9% in November, the lowest in 6.5 years, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released on Monday.
This reading continues a trend of easing inflation, which had peaked at a historic high of 38% last year. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s Monetary Policy Committee is set to review the policy rate, currently at 15%, in a meeting on December 16.
The PBS reported that CPI inflation decreased to 4.9% year-on-year in November 2024, down from 7.2% in the previous month and 29.2% in November 2023. On a month-on-month basis, inflation increased by 0.5% in November, compared to a 1.2% increase in the previous month.
The SBP has refrained from aggressive monetary easing to achieve its goal of reducing inflation to a medium-term target of 5-7% by September 2025, ensuring macroeconomic stability.
Topline Securities, a brokerage firm in Karachi, noted that this was the “lowest reading in 78 months,” with inflation averaging 7.88% during the first five months of FY25, compared to 28.62% in the same period last year.