CPI ssen up by 13.45%

KARACHI: The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the key indicator of inflation, rose by 13.45 per cent year-on-year in May because of an increase in food and fuel prices, according to a Reuters poll.

May consumer prices were seen rising 13.45 per cent from a year earlier, according to the median of a survey of 10 analysts and economists.

The CPI rose by 13.26 per cent in April from a year ago. The Federal Bureau of Statistics is due to release the CPI data on, or soon after, Wednesday.

The State Bank of Pakistan forecasts an average inflation for 2009-10 to be between 11.5 and 12.5 per cent, compared to the government’s target of 9 per cent.

The government announced inflation forecast for the 2010-11 fiscal year at 9.5 per cent but analysts said that this target is unlikely to be met.

“FY11 CPI inflation is likely to average around 12 per cent, which will probably leave no room for any sort of easing of monetary policy,” said Khalid Iqbal Siddiqui, director at Invest and Finance Securities Limited

Published in the Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2010.