PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday declared the downward trend of inflation as “welcome news” for the people, saying that inflation falling towards the lowest level in two years was a sign of improvement in the economy. His remarks came following the release of data by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday, which showed consumer price inflation slowed to 17.3% in April, lowest reading in two years and even below the projections of the Finance Ministry.
The PM has ascribed this downward trend to the hard work done during the 16-month-long government led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and continued by the interim government, pledging that people would get more relief in the coming days after an increase in the economic activities. Shehbaz Sharif also expressed the confidence that inflation would come down further due to cut in prices of petroleum products and his directions in this regard to the provinces become relevant as industrialists and traders are not in the habit of passing on due relief to the end consumer. It may be pointed out that inflation peaked to about forty percent last year and therefore, the April data is surely something to celebrate for the government but it is surely much high for a majority of people of Pakistan in view of their meagre incomes and lack of economic opportunities due to a virtual halt in developmental activities. According to experts, the slowdown in inflation is primarily on account of food inflation and tight monetary policy of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). There is, however, no guarantee at all that this trend would persist as the government is firming up proposals for the national budget for the next financial year which is likely to be prepared strictly in line with the terms of the next package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
