Inflation spikes to 2.7% in April

The inflation determined as per the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) increased to 2.7% year-on-year (YoY) in April 2024, after 2.5% drop in March, according to the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS).

It said the food group inflation increased to 3.3% in April from 5% in March and non-food group inflation increased to 2.3% in April from 0.7% in March 2024.

The Department of Census and Statistics said the NCPI for all items for the month of April 2024 is 208.2, which is a decrease of 1.8 index points or 0.89% compared to March 2024 for which the index was 210.0. This decrease represents a decline in expenditure value of Rs. 946.09 in the “market basket”.

On a YoY basis, contribution of food commodities to inflation was 1.43% compared to the month of April 2023.

Contribution of non-food items was 1.28%. This was mainly due to price increases in groups of items alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics (0.47%), health (0.005%), transport (0.76%), communication (0.05%) education (0.41%), restaurant and hotels (0.24%) and miscellaneous goods and services (0.08%). 

However, price decreases in the groups of items were reported for clothing and footwear (0.06%) housing and water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.71%), furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (0.01%). Further, very slight price increase was reported in group of recreation and culture during the period.

The moving average inflation for the month of April was 5.2%. The corresponding rate for the month of March 2024 was 7.2%.