People wait to receive free flour from a government distribution site in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar on April 1, 2023. Pakistan's inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), increased to 35.4 percent in March as compared to the same month a year ago, official statistics showed Saturday. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)
ISLAMABAD, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), increased to 35.4 percent in March as compared to the same month a year ago, official statistics showed Saturday.
In March 2022, inflation was recorded at 12.7 percent, Muhammad Mazhar, an official from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), told Xinhua.
On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased 3.7 percent in March as compared to an increase of 4.3 percent in February, according to the PBS.
The inflation reading in March marked the highest CPI increase on record since July 1965 in the South Asian country.
Experts believe that the ongoing trend of inflation in the country is expected to continue for at least the next two months before coming down from June onwards due to the high base effect.
The hike in wheat and fruit prices contributed to the rising inflation, said the experts, adding that high demand for food items during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan also led to the increase in inflation. ■
People wait to receive free flour from a government distribution site in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar on April 1, 2023. Pakistan's inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), increased to 35.4 percent in March as compared to the same month a year ago, official statistics showed Saturday. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)
A man leaves after receiving free flour from a government distribution site in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar on April 1, 2023. Pakistan's inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), increased to 35.4 percent in March as compared to the same month a year ago, official statistics showed Saturday. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)
