ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s consumer inflation was expected to remain stable in February and maintain a downward trajectory compared to the previous year, the finance ministry said in its monthly economic outlook report on Thursday.
“Inflation is anticipated to remain within the range of 2.0-3.0% for February 2025, however, there are prospects of a slight increase to 3.0-4.0% by March 2025,” the report said.
Inflation has eased since last year with CPI coming in at 2.4% in January compared to 24% in the same period last year.
Authorities have credited the downward trend to economic stabilization under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program secured last summer.
An IMF mission is due to arrive in Islamabad next week for the first review of the global lender’s facility.
“The primary surplus is expected to improve further in the coming months,” the ministry said, pointing to one of the benchmarks identified by the IMF.
The report also said that foreign remittances, a crucial lifeline for Pakistan’s economy, were expected to rise.
“Workers’ remittances recorded robust inflows of $20.8 billion during July-Jan FY2025, marking a 31.7% increase over $15.8 billion last year,” the ministry said.
(Reporting by Saad Sayeed and Asif Shahzad; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Kim Coghill)
