Pakistan Jan inflation rate rises to 332

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s annual consumer inflation rate rose to 3.32 percent in January from 3.19 percent in December, the Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.”The year-on-year inflation increased mainly due to an increase in food prices,” said Asif Bajwa, the bureau’s chief statistician.On a month-on-month basis, prices rose by 0.21 percent in January from December.The average annual inflation rate for July-January 2015/2016 over July-January 2014-15 was 2.26 percent.On Saturday, State Bank of Pakistan announced that it was leaving the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6 percent.Consumer inflation is expected to remain between 3 percent and 4 percent in the current fiscal year, central bank chief Ashraf Mahmood Wathra said while making the monetary policy announcement.