ISLAMABAD: The annual consumer inflation slightly decelerated to 28.3 per cent year-on-year in January from 29.7pc in the previous month, primarily due to a slight decrease in petroleum prices, official data showed on Thursday.

However, inflation has remained above 28pc for the past three months, indicating that consumers are still facing relentless price increases, primarily due to soaring prices of essential kitchen items, gas price and electricity rates.

Inflation for the first seven months (July to January) of the current fiscal year was recorded at 28.73pc compared to 25.4pc during the corresponding period last year and also exceeding the government`s projection of 21pc.

The IMF has also forecast the average inflation for FY24 at 25.9pc, a significant easing from the previous year`s 29.6pc. The month-on-month inflation rose 1.8pc, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday.

The inflation rate was recorded at 27.6pcinJanuary2023.

The headline consumer inflation, measured by a basket of goods and services called the Consumer Price Index (CPI), has been elevated since mid-2022 after the PML-N-led coalition government took several meas-ures demanded by the IMF to unlock stalled funding.

The urban inflation in January 2024 was 30.2pc year on year and 1.8pc month on month, up from 30.9pc and 0.7pc in December 2023 and 24.4pc and 2.4pc in January 2023.

The rural inflation was 25.7pc year on year and 1.9pc month on month in January 2024, up from 27.9pc and 1pc in December 2023 and 32.3pc and 3.6pc in January 2023.

The goods and services in the CPI basket are divided into 12 major components with different weights. The indexes for the two groups with the highestweight-`food andnon-alcoholic beverages` and `housing, water, electricity, gas, and fuels` saw an annual increase of over 24.96pc and 38.65pc.

Food, core inflation Food inflation for January stood at 27.4pc in urban areas and 25.1pc in rural areas, whereas non-food inflation was 32.3pc in urban areas and 26.3pc in rural areas.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, slightly declined to 17.8pc in urban areas compared to 18.2pc last month.

In rural areas, core inflation was recorded at 24.6pc, down from 25.1pc.

Main contributors In urban areas, the food itemswhose prices saw the highest annual increase in January included tomatoes (154.41pc), cigarettes (98.02pc), fresh vegetables (79.74pc), condiments and spices (61.92pc), sugar (54.65pc), beans (52.45pc), gur (49.73pc), beverages (45.39pc), tea (43.41pc), eggs (42.39pc), pulse mash (41.71pc), wheat flour (40.77pc), potatoes (35.05pc), and dry fruits (31.8pc).

In the non-food category, gas charges (519.61pc), electricity charges (70.55pc), transport services (41.03pc), stationery (41.01pc), communication apparatus (39.72pc), text books (36.97pc), household equipment (35.95pc), washing soap/detergents/match box (35.2pc), and marriage hall charges (34.16pc).

In rural areas, the highest annual increase was seen in the prices of food items like tomatoes (125.07pc), cigarettes (87.33pc), fresh vegetables (85.77pc), sugar (55.52pc), gur (51.1pc), beans (50.55pc), tea (48.14pc), pulse mash (45.12pc), beverages (44.81pc), and eggs (44.81pc).

In the non-food category for rural areas, the prices of electricity charges (70.55pc), text books (56.92pc), transport services (53.84pc), newspapers (46.34pc), appliances/articles/products for personal care (43.52pc), washing soaps, detergents and match box (38.82pc), and woollen readymade garments (38.62pc).