ISLAMABAD: The month of January saw a deeper deceleration in prices of consumer products as inflation eased to 5.7 per cent from 8pc in Dec 2020, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed.

On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, inflation decreased by 0.21pc mainly due to a drop in prices of tomatoes, potatoes, onions and a few other vegetables as a result of the arrival of the domestic crop in the market.

In Jan 2019, the lowest inflation last time was recorded at 5.6pc year-on-year.

“Inflation continues to decline. Jan inflation (CPI) is down to 5.7%. Core inflation is at 5.4%. Last month (jul 2018) prior to PTI govt formation, CPI was 5.8% & core was 7.6%. The rate of inflation is LOWER today then when the PTI govt was formed. #PMIKECONPOLICY­SUCCESS,” tweeted Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar on Sunday.

With shortages in domestic production, inflation at the beginning of the current fiscal year stood at 9.3pc in July, easing down to 8.2pc in August before rebounding to 9pc in September. Since September inflation has been on a downward trajectory, giving partly relief to end consumers.

As a result, food inflation enters a single digit in both urban and rural areas. However, there are food items prices of which are still on an upward trajectory.

The average CPI in the seven months — between July and January — eased from last year’s 11.60pc to 8.19pc this year.

Lower food prices pull down inflation as prices of food group rose 7.3pc YoY and dipped 2.1pc month-on-month in January in urban areas. The situation is almost the same in rural areas where prices of food group rose 7.2pc YoY and a drop of 2.2pc MoM in January.

The MoM decline indicates that prices of essential food items will see a further decline in the next months.

The government has imported wheat and sugar to bridge shortfalls and improve its supplies in the market. With the arrival of tomatoes and onions in the domestic market, its prices posted a decline during the month under review.

Pakistan’s wheat imports stood at 2.489 tonnes between July and December against no import last year. Similarly, sugar imports stood at 280,74 tonnes during the period under review as against 3,140 tonnes last year.

In urban areas, food items that saw a jump in prices this month from previous included sugar 14.76pc, mustard oil 10.18pc, wheat 8.17pc, vegetable ghee 6.06pc, fruits 5.39pc, cooking oil 3.28pc, milk fresh 2.46pc, pulse moong 2.02pc and fish 1.64pc.

The items whose prices declined in urban areas were potatoes, down 33.57pc, tomatoes 30.03pc, chicken 28.48pc, onions 24.87pc, eggs 15.39pc, vegetables 10.14pc and condiments and spices 7.54pc.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2021