Inflation has hit its highest level in 48 years in Pakistan, according to data released Wednesday by the country's Bureau of Statistics, which is facing an economic crisis and hoping for intervention from the International Monetary Fund.
Inflation reached 27.55% in January, the highest since May 1975, when thousands of containers of imported goods were blocked in the port of Karachi.
Pakistan's economy is on the brink of suffocation, with a steadily depreciating rupee, steadily rising inflation and energy shortages.
The world's fifth most populous country has less than $3.7 billion in the state bank, barely enough to cover three weeks of imports.
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An IMF delegation arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to negotiate the disbursement of a new tranche of financial assistance, under a program suspended for months.
