Pakistan inflation hits 48-year high

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Pakistan inflation hits 48-year high

kzqghvva

International

Daily Bangla Times: Inflation has risen to a 48-year high in crisis-hit Pakistan, according to government data released Wednesday, as IMF officials visit for urgent talks on a stalled bailout package.

Year-on-year inflation in January was recorded at 27.55 percent, its highest since May 1975.

Pakistan's economy is in dire straits, stricken by a balance of payments crisis as it attempts to service high levels of external debt, amid political chaos and a deteriorating security situation.

The world's fifth most populous country has less than $3.7 billion in its central bank -- enough to cover just three weeks of imports.

On Tuesday, a delegation from the International Monetary Fund arrived in Islamabad to revive negotiations over a stalled bailout package with the government, which had long held out from meeting the global lender's tough conditions.

Food prices rose by a staggering 43 percent in January year-on-year, which analyst Yousuf Nazar based in Britain described as a "killer".

"The overall rate actually masks or understates the misery of the people, and what is really going on behind these numbers," he told AFP.

"It also reflects badly on the management -- on the managers of the economy."