PBS to Launch New Price Index and Rebase National Accounts

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics is developing a Producer Price Index or PPI framework by the end of the current fiscal year with work underway in collaboration with provincial authorities. The project comes after the International Monetary Fund raised concerns in its September 2024 report about major data gaps, especially in sectors contributing nearly a third of the GDP. The International Monetary Fund also pointed out issues with the granularity and reliability of Government Finance Statistics which led to this push for better systems. Technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund is supporting Pakistan Bureau of Statistics in this effort.

The new PPI will track prices throughout the entire supply chain including farm gate, factory gate, and retail level. Unlike the existing system that only monitors wholesale and retail prices, the PPI will offer insight into actual production costs. This will allow the government to detect irregularities and shifts in pricing early on helping improve economic decisions and inflation management. The goal is to provide a more accurate picture of market activity and cost movements.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics is also preparing to rebase the National Accounts shifting the base year from 2015 16 to 2025 26. This update will take effect by 2027-28 and aims to reflect the country’s current economic structure more accurately.

To support these changes Pakistan Bureau of Statistics will begin fieldwork in July 2024 for four key surveys including the integrated agricultural census labor force survey and household economic survey. Preliminary results are expected within the current fiscal year. These efforts are part of a broader push to modernize Pakistan’s statistical framework and meet international data standard.