Pakistan's consumer price index rises 24.68% in a year

Karachi: Pakistan's consumer price index (CPI), a key indicator of inflation, rose 24.68 per cent in November from a year earlier and slowed from 25 per cent in October, the Federal Bureau of Statistics said.

Using 2000-01 as the base year, the CPI index stood at 191.85 against 192.08 in October.

The average inflation in the first five months of the fiscal year of 2008-09 (July-June) is 24.65 per cent, compared to 7.85 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

The International Monetary Fund, which last month approved a $7.6 billion bailout package to help avert a balance of payments crisis in Pakistan, has projected inflation at an average of 23 per cent.

The central bank projected inflation at 20 to 22 per cent in fiscal year to June 30.

Pakistan's inflation for fiscal year of 2007-08 was 12 per cent.

The wholesale price index (WPI) rose 19.87 per cent in November from a year earlier, slowing from the 28.38 per cent year-on-year increase seen in October.

The WPI was down 5.11 per cent over October, according to the bureau's data.

Using 2000-01 as the base year, the WPI index stood at 196.5 against 207.08 in October.