Pakistan's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April rose 17.3% from a year earlier, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday, the lowest reading in nearly two years and below the finance ministry's projections for the month.

Pakistan has been beset by inflation above 20% since May 2022, registering a high of 38% in May 2023, as it has navigated reforms as part of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.

Month on month inflation was down 0.4%, showing negative growth for the first time since June 2023.

The Finance Ministry in its monthly economic report said it expected inflation to hover between 18.5% and 19.5% in April and ease further in May to 17.5%-18.5%.

Pakistan's central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 22% for the seventh straight policy meeting on Monday, hours before the IMF executive board approved $1.1 billion in funding under a $3 billion standby arrangement signed last year.

The bank's monetary policy committee said in a statement it was "prudent" to continue with its monetary policy stance at this stage to bring inflation down to the target range.

(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi Editing by Ros Russell)