Overview
- Tuesday’s Pakistan Bureau of Statistics release showed headline CPI inflation at about 11.1 percent year‑on‑year for August 2026, up from 9.2 percent in July.
- The rise was driven mainly by food and transport: food inflation climbed roughly 13.9 percent year‑on‑year and transport costs rose about 20 percent with steep increases in onion, wheat and motor fuel prices.
- Broader measures remain high with core (non‑food, non‑energy) inflation near 8.5–8.9 percent, the Sensitive Price Index about 9.5 percent and the Wholesale Price Index about 11.8 percent, signaling persistent underlying pressure.
- The federal government has approved importing up to one million tonnes of wheat to relieve shortages, and analysts say the State Bank of Pakistan is likely to keep policy tight because energy‑driven inflation and fiscal choices have raised the risk of further price gains.
- Monsoon damage, fertilizer supply shifts linked to regional conflict and doubts from some economists that official figures may understate inflation by 2–3 percentage points raise downside risks for food supply, household living costs and the policy outlook.