The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate increased to 10.21 per cent in the country in June, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said.

The inflation rate was soared by 0.15 per cent in a week, the bureau said. During the week under review, prices of 14 commodities increased, while seven items’ prices went down.

The prices of 30 essential items remained stable during the week, the bureau of statistics said.

“The price of domestic cylinder of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) went upward during the week,” the bureau said in its report. The prices of milk, meat, rice, tomatoes, potatoes, pulses, eggs, onions, tea and spices also hiked in the week. The chicken meat prices went down by eight rupees during the week, according to the PBS.

Garlic, gram pulse and sugar prices also fallen during the week. It is to be mentioned here that the government has increased the prices of all petroleum products on Friday, which would have an inflationary impact on prices in a future Consumer Price Index report.

Meanwhile, Minister for Energy Omar Ayub justified on Saturday the recent hike in Pakistan petrol prices, saying they were the least in the Asia. Omar Ayub has said that in the global market, petrol prices rose sharply by 112 per cent, while the government has given relief to the public by only raising its price by 25 per cent.

“Still, we have not fully increased the prices and gave a margin of Rs17,” Ayub said. Addressing a joint press conference with Special Assistant for Petroleum Nadeem Babar in the federal capital following the directive of the Prime Minister, the Federal Minister for Petroleum said that prices in Pakistan are the lowest in Asia. He contrasted his government’s performance with PML-N’s tenure, where prices of petroleum products increased by 31 per cent in a single month.

The minister said that the prices of petrol and diesel in Pakistan are still relatively low, as Imran Khan’s first priority is securing the interests of the public.

He said that on the PM’s direction, the duration for revising petrol prices has now been set at 35 days. He maintained that the petrol prices in the country are still the lowest in the Sub-continent by a wide margin.

The minister said that the government is committed to provide relief to the public, therefore, it has not increased the prices according to international trends. Special Petroleum Assistant Nadeem Babar said that before February 28, the price of petrol was Rs116.60.

In May, PSO bought petrol at $21 a barrel, but in June, that rose to $44. The Petroleum Adviser said that the current price of petrol in India is Rs180 per liter, Rs137 in China, Rs174 in Bangladesh, Rs108 in Indonesia and Rs196 in Japan. Babar said the prime minister directed the authorities not to increase the prices much. “If someone thinks we knelt down before the mafia then they are wrong,” he said.

Earlier, Omar Ayub Khan has told the National Assembly that petrol prices are still lower in Pakistan as compared to global market. Omar Ayub said petrol prices are higher in Bangladesh, India and other countries of the region than Pakistan even after the price revision.

The minister further said that prices of petroleum products are determined keeping in view the international market and price of petrol in the market has increased by 112%. He said that in January price of petrol was Rs116.70, so petrol is still Rs17 cheaper than January.

Omar Ayub further said that government has improved power transmission system which now has capacity of more than 26,000 MW.

News Network International