Ramadan shopping frenzy in Pakistan as food prices soar

Country's consumer inflation is expected to remain stable in February, continuing its downward trend from last year.

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Pakistanis thronged markets this week to shop for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, keeping a watchful eye on food prices as the South Asian nation navigates a tricky path to economic recovery.

The country’s consumer inflation was expected to remain stable in February and maintain a downward trajectory compared to the previous year, the finance ministry said in its monthly economic outlook report on Thursday.

Inflation has eased since last year with CPI coming in at 2.4 percent in January compared to 24 percent in the same period last year. A drop in inflation means that prices are now rising more slowly. But shoppers at a market in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, said they are still feeling the pinch.

“If you compare people’s salaries from last year to this year, they have not increased accordingly, they are facing the same inflation,” Azeem Khan, a government employee, told Reuters.

The country’s economy is on a long path to recovery after being stabilized under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program secured last year. An IMF mission is due to arrive in Islamabad next week for the first review of the global lender’s facility.

Another shopper said the price increase is due to the arrival of Ramadan, the month during which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

One shopkeeper, however, said the prices were stable this year compared to last year, and that prices of some commodities have decreased.

“This year the prices are normal and the prices of some items like lentils, spices and vegetables have come down,” shopkeeper Mohammad Aslam said.

Ramadan is set to begin in Pakistan on Saturday (March 1) with Sunday (March 2) as the first day of fasting after the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announced that the new moon was not sighted in the country.