Pakistan’s bureau of statistics has released monthly inflation for the month of May, reported 24NewsHDTV Channel.
The annual inflation rate in May 2025 was 3.46 percent. The inflation rate in April 2025 was recorded at 0.28 percent. The average inflation rate from July 2024 to May 2025 was 4.61 percent.
The Bureau of Statistics said the inflation rate decreased by 0.17 percent in May compared to April. The inflation in cities increased by 0.07 percent on a monthly basis in May while in villages inflation decreased by 0.53 percent on a monthly basis. Inflation rate among citizens was 3.51 percent in May. Inflation rate in villages recorded at 3.39 percent last month. The Finance Ministry had estimated inflation for May at between 1.5 percent and 2 percent.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation decreased by 0.2pc in May 2025, as compared to a decrease of 0.8pc in the previous month and a decrease of 3.2pc in May 2024. The CPI inflation average during 11MFY25 stood at 4.61 percent, compared to 24.52% in 11MFY24.
Inflation has cooled significantly, easing from 37.97% in May 2023. The CPI reading is higher than the government’s expectations. In its monthly economic report released last week, the finance ministry expected inflation to ease to between 1.5% and 2% year-on-year in May, before picking up to 3%-4% in June.
“Improved weather conditions, better crop yields and a stable exchange rate have helped reduce inflation to a historical low,” the finance ministry report had said, adding that “inflation is projected to remain between 1.5-2.0% in May, with a possible rise to 3.0-4.0 percent by June 2025.”
The latest CPI reading was also higher than projections made by several brokerage houses. JS Global projected Pakistan’s headline inflation to inch up to 2.7% in May.
Pakistan’s CPI is expected to clock in at 2.7 percent for May. The base effect is now fading, signaling a return to normalized price trends. This is likely to take 11MFY25 average inflation to 4.7%, down from 11MFY24 average of 24.9%, JS Global had said in a report. Last month, Pakistan central bank cut the key interest rate by 100 basis points to 11 percent.
Reporter: Waqas Azeem