Inflation slows to 1.5% in Feb after a decade

ISLAMABAD:

The overall pace of increase in consumer prices further slowed to 1.5% in February, but daily kitchen items continued to become more expensive at a double-digit rate, indicating the gap between the government's confidence in slowing inflation and the public still feeling the burden.

The fresh inflation reading was announced on the same day the IMF opened its first review talks under the $7 billion deal with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in Karachi, separately meeting the central bank for discussions outside Islamabad. Another IMF team met with the Ministry of Finance in Islamabad.

Inflation fell to a nearly decade-low level of 1.5% in February, reported the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday.