Inflation for February may touch four-year highest level

Karachi, February 26, 2019: Inflation for the months February is likely to touch four-year highest level.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to announce CPI figure for the month of Feb-18 in coming days.

Analysts at Spectrum Securities Limited are expecting that expect CPI to tick at 8.10 percent YoY highest since July 2014 and higher than the previous month of 7.19 percent YoY.

However, average CPI for first eight months of this fiscal year to clock in at 6.45 percent.

On a MoM basis, it is being expected that CPI to increase by 0.53 percent mainly due to surge in food inflation by 1.31 percent.

In food group as per the weekly SPI numbers average prices of tomatoes surged by almost double (+97 percent MoM), followed by chicken (+4 percent MoM) and fresh fruit (+4 percent).

However, motor fuel prices and House Rent Index remain unchanged during the current month.

Outlook going forward, analyst are expecting upward momentum in inflation to continue due to lagged impact of rupee devaluation. Moreover, the impact of hike in gas and electricity prices to build up pressure on inflation.

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