{
  "id": 4998650,
  "title": "Inflation rebounds to 11pc in August",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/inflation-rebounds-to-11pc-in-august",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-02T02:35:06.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn Business",
    "slug": "dawn-business",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2026747/inflation-rebounds-to-11pc-in-august"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Inflation surged to 11% in August, climbing from 9.2% a month earlier, according to statistics from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The rise in consumer prices, measured by the Consumer Price Index, was mainly due to increased costs in food and energy sectors. An increase in petrol and diesel prices led to higher transportation expenses, which in turn accelerated overall inflationary pressures. On a monthly basis, inflation climbed by 1.2%.\n\nThis higher inflation rate comes despite the high base effect from the previous year. The government's target for inflation in fiscal year 2026 was set at 8.2%. In comparison to the same period last year, inflation between July and August stood at 10.17%, while it was 3.56% in the corresponding period of the previous year.\n\nThe government revised up petroleum prices after a significant reduction in June, and the effects of this revision appear in the August inflation figure. Food and fuel costs put pressure on household budgets, with transport costs surging by 20.17% compared to the same month last year. Perishable food items saw a sharp increase of 24.91%, while non-perishable items rose by 12.28% from the previous month.\n\nThe State Bank increased its policy rate to 11.50% from the previous 10.50% in response to rising inflation. Urban inflation stood at 10.4% in August, compared to 12.2% in rural areas on an annual basis. On a monthly basis, urban prices increased by 0.9%, while rural inflation rose by 1.6%. Food inflation increased by 12.1% in urban areas and 13.2% in rural areas, with non-food inflation reaching 9.4% in urban areas and 11.3% in rural regions.\n\nCore inflation, excluding volatile food and energy components, stood at 8.8% in urban areas and 8.6% in rural areas. Urban food items that saw notable month-on-month price increases included onions, eggs, potatoes, fresh vegetables, wheat, pulse gram, besan, wheat flour, tea, gram whole, pulse masoor, wheat products, tea, gram whole, pulse masoor, vegetable ghee, readymade food, and meat. Non-food categories witnessed price hikes as well, including motor fuel, water supply, mechanical services, electricity, appliances, transport services, medical tests, hospital services, tailoring, doctor fees, drugs, and medicines.",
  "summary": "ISLAMABAD: Consumer inflation rose to 11.1 per cent in August from 9.2pc a month earlier, driven mainly by higher food and energy prices, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday. The reversal in inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), after two consecutive months of decline indicates that last month’s increase in petrol and diesel prices…",
  "key_points": [
    "Inflation rose to 11% in August, up from 9.2% in July",
    "Consumer price index increase driven by food and energy sector costs",
    "Government raised petroleum prices after June reduction"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}