High gas prices not to impact monthly inflation, says ministry

The Ministry of Finance has said that increase in gas rates will not impact the monthly inflation, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Sunday.

According to the Monthly Economic Report released by the Ministry of Finance, the inflation rate is decreasing in the country. Inflation rate may remain between 25.5 to 26.5 percent in December.

The report says that the increase in gas prices will not affect the monthly inflation as the impact of the increase has already come on the weekly inflation.

Inflation is coming down due to reduction in prices of petroleum products.

The report says that production of local industries is increasing, announcing that the domestic exports have recorded a surge.

The ministry says that efforts are afoot to cut down the cost of production in the energy sector. It also reveals that steps are being taken to fix the market rate of dollar.

The losses of State-Owned Enterprises are being reduced and the government is taking measures to implement the fiscal budget for 2023/24.

According to the report, there has been a decrease of 13.3 percent in the remittances received in the 1QFY2023/24.

However, exports have increased by 1.1 percent and imports have fallen down by 20.1 percent in the same period of time - July to October.

Non-tax revenue has increased by 114.7% and budget deficit has surged by 17.6% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

Reporter Waqas Azeem