Pakistan records highest annual inflation ever, 16 people died in food stampede

(Patria) - Consumer price inflation in Pakistan jumped to a record 35.37 percent in March compared to a year earlier, the statistics bureau announced yesterday, and 16 people died waiting for food, Reuters reported.

The March inflation figure exceeded February's 31.5%, as prices of food, beverages, and transport rose by up to 50% compared to the previous year.

Thousands of people gathered at flour distribution centers set up across the country, some as part of a government program to mitigate the impact of inflation.

At least 16 people, including five women and three children, died in stampedes at such centers in recent days, police and officials said. Thousands of bags of flour were also looted from trucks and distribution points, according to official records.

A spokesperson for the statistics bureau said the inflation figure is the highest ever increase compared to the same period last year that the Bureau has recorded since the start of monthly record-keeping in the 1970s.

"This is the highest inflation ever recorded in the data we have," he said.

The consumer price index in March was 3.72% higher than the previous month, the bureau announced. Higher prices for food, edible oil, and electricity increased the index, the statement said.

Annual food price inflation in March was 47.1% for urban and 50.2% for rural areas. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, was 18.6% in urban areas and 23.1% in rural areas.

The nation has been in economic turmoil for months with an acute balance of payments crisis, while talks with the IMF to secure $1.1 billion in funding as part of a $6.5 billion aid package agreed in 2019 have yet to bear fruit. Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves have fallen to cover barely four weeks of imports.

The monthly economic report released by the Ministry of Finance on Friday predicts that inflation will remain elevated.