Asia: Inflation rises fastest in Pakistan, bankrupt Sri Lanka also left behind
The month of May has once again brought bad news for the impoverished Pakistan. According to the latest data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan's year-on-year consumer inflation rose to its highest level of 36.42% in April.
Muskan 
The month of May has once again brought bad news for the impoverished Pakistan. According to the latest data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan's year-on-year consumer inflation rose to its highest level of 36.42% in April. Which is more than the bankrupt country of Sri Lanka. As per the data, the month-on-month inflation stood at 2.41%, while the average inflation for the last 10 months (July to April) was 28.23%. In this too, food inflation has increased by 48%, which is the highest after FY2016. Since 2016, the bureau has started tracking inflation for different categories. In the neighbouring country, the lives of common people have been affected the most due to this inflation. The value of the rupee is continuously decreasing and the prices of food items have increased rapidly there. Inflation is breaking all old records. It is a matter of concern that the Finance Ministry has not given any indication of a reduction in inflation and has projected inflation to remain at 36 to 38% at present.
According to the data, inflation in Pakistan remained above 20% for the 11th consecutive month. It reached 31.6% in February, crossed 35% in March and has now increased to 36.4%. It was 13.4% in April last year.
The alcoholic beverages and tobacco category saw the highest price hike of 133.70%. Annual food inflation in April was recorded at 46.8% and 52.2% in urban and rural areas, respectively. While annual non-food inflation stood at 24.9% and 29.9% in April for urban and rural areas, respectively. Thus, overall inflation in urban and rural areas increased by 33.5% and 40.7% year-on-year, respectively.
It was told by Pakistan's Arif Habib Limited that according to the data available since 1965, this inflation rate is the highest ever. According to Bloomberg, on the inflation front, Pakistan has left behind even the bankrupt Sri Lanka. Inflation in Sri Lanka last month was 35.3%. Whereas in Pakistan it has been recorded at 36.4%. According to Bloomberg, Pakistan has had one of the fastest price increases in Asia.
According to a report by the State Bank of Pakistan, by the end of January 2023, the total debt of Pakistan had increased to 55 lakh crore Pakistani rupees. In January 2022, this figure was 42.39 lakh crore Pak rupees. This means that the debt in Pakistan has increased by about 30 per cent in a year. In this also, the domestic debt increased to 34.3 lakh crore Pakistani rupees, which was almost 25 per cent more than the figure of a year ago. While the foreign debt has increased to 20.69 lakh crore Pakistani rupees, which has increased by 38 per cent in a year.
The World Bank has said that the growth rate in Pakistan is estimated to be 0.4 per cent in 2023. At the same time, in the absence of any kind of social security for the common man, the low-middle-income poverty rate is expected to increase to 37.2 per cent in the financial year 2023.
