KARACHI: Pakistan’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January rose 28.3 percent from a year before, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.
The is the last monthly CPI data before general elections due on Feb 8; and comes as Pakistan undertakes reforms linked to a $3 billion Standby Arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Monthly inflation for January registered a 1.83 percent rise from the previous month.
Pakistan’s central bank on Monday held its key rate at 22 percent for the fifth policy meeting in a row and increased its full-year inflation projections.
The governor of the State Bank of Pakistan said the decision was warranted due to “elevated” inflation — which was 29.7 percent in December.
He said a rise in the bank’s average inflation forecast for the fiscal year ending in June to 23-25 percent, from a previous projection of 20-22 percent, was due to rising gas and electricity prices.
Pakistan Consumer Price Index for January rises 28.3 percent from a year before
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Pakistan Consumer Price Index for January rises 28.3 percent from a year before
- This is the last monthly CPI data before general elections due on Feb 8
- Comes as Pakistan undertakes reforms linked to a $3 billion IMF bailout
Security forces kill 11 militants in separate operations in Pakistan’s northwest
- Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan
- Militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban frequently target convoys of security forces, police and government officials
ISLAMABAD: Security forces gunned down 11 Pakistani Taliban militants in separate operations in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Saturday, amid a surge in militancy in the South Asian country.
The first intelligence-based operation was conducted in North Waziristan district, which borders Afghanistan, during which six militants were killed, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
Another joint intelligence-based operation by police and security forces was conducted in the Kurram district, which led to the killing of five other Pakistani Taliban militants in a fire exchange.
“Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from killed Indian-sponsored khwarij (militants), who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharja (militant) found in the area.”
There was no immediate comment by New Delhi to the Pakistani military statement.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP in recent years. Militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have frequently targeted convoys of security forces, police stations and check-posts besides kidnapping government officials in the region.
Last year, the South Asian country saw 73 percent increase in combat-related deaths, with both security forces and militants suffering casualties in large numbers.
As per statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387, compared with 1,950 in 2024. These deaths included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees (combatants), the think tank said in a press release.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing its soil and India of backing militant groups, including the TTP, for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.
