Staff Reporter
Karachi
CPI for the month of Apr’20 clocked-in at 8.53% YoY (in line with our expectations) compared to 8.3% YoY in Apr’19 and 10.24% in Mar’20, respectively. This took the 10MFY20 average inflation to 11.22% against 6.51% during 10MFY19.
During the period under review, decline in monthly headline inflation was primarily led by Transport Index (-4.5% MoM) due to decline in prices of petroleum products by PKR 15/liter as announced in economic revival package by the Prime Minister.
On the other hand, Food index decreased by 1.6% MoM amid extending lockdown resulted in significant drop in prices of Tomatoes (-23% MoM), Chicken (-22% MoM) and Tomatoes (-11% MoM) wiped off the impact of higher prices of Pulse Masoor (+23% MoM) and Fresh Fruits (+20% MoM).
Despite quarterly increase in House rent index by 0.3% QoQ, Housing index dropped by 0.3% MoM due to decline in LPG price by 17% MoM. Uptick in CPI reading stems from Alcoholic Beverages, Food, Miscellaneous, and Health, depicting an increase of 19.4%, 12.5%, 12.1%, and 11.6% YoY, respectively.
Commodities that led the inflationary trend include Pulse Moong (+101% YoY), Potatoes (+92% YoY), Pulse Mash (+68% YoY), Pulse Masoor (+48% YoY), Gas (+55% YoY), Eggs (+44% YoY), and Onions (+41% YoY).
On a MoM basis, inflation decrease of 0.8% in Apr’20 compared to +0.04% in Mar’20 and -0.52% in Apr’19. This took average monthly inflation to +0.72% in 10MFY20 compared to -0.47% in 10MFY19. Inflationary pressure eased off owing to Transport, Food and Housing index which dropped by 4.5%, 1.6% and 0.3% MoM, respectively.
