Weekly inflation eases 0.48 percent

By Israr Khan
December 04, 2021

ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation eased in the week ended December 2, 2021 after holding high for almost two months in a row, helped by improved supplies of key commodities following administrative measures to contain rising prices, latest data showed on Friday.

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The combined Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based inflation eased 0.48 percent on soft prices of items including tomatoes, onions, chicken, sugar, egg and wheat flour.

However, prices of all pulses and vegetable ghee and cooking oil increased considerably.

SPI that gauges the weekly price movement of mostly kitchen items inched down 0.48 percent during the week over the previous week, while increasing 18.35 percent as compared to weekly inflation in the corresponding period a year earlier, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

Last week, it was recorded at 18.64 percent.

Moreover, for the lowest income slab spending up to Rs17,732/month, the SPI inflation stood at 19.21 percent, while for the group spending more than 44,175/month, it was recorded at 18.97 percent.

Each week, PBS collects prices of 51 essential items from 50 markets in 17 cities and releases a weekly bulletin. Average prices of 21 items (41.18pc) registered an increase, 11 items (21.57pc) registered a decrease, while prices of 19 items (37.25pc) did not show any change.

It is to be noted that inflation has become a major economic irritant and challenge for the PTI-led government.

In November 2021, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation jumped to double-digit and arrived at 11.5 percent after leaping 3 percent from October.

According to the data, tomatoes price in one week declined 17.5 percent to Rs98/kilogram, onions 7.74 percent to Rs38.5/kg, chicken (farm) 7.7 percent to Rs233/kg, LPG (11.67kg cylinder) 2.43 percent to Rs2,416.7, while sugar’s price slipped 1.5 percent to Rs92/kg and egg (farm) 1.4 percent to Rs184/dozen.

Less than a percent decline was also seen in the prices of some items. These include chilies powder down 0.88 percent, potatoes 0.67 percent, wheat flour 0.58 percent, gur 0.45 percent and garlic 0.3 percent over previous week.

The SPI also recorded an increase in the prices of some items, including bananas up 3.82 percent to Rs74/dozen, masoor pulse 2.6 percent to Rs188/kg, mash pulse 2.26 percent to Rs254/kg, moong pulse 2.1 percent to Rs166/kg, cooking oil (5ltr tin) 1.95 percent to Rs2042, vegetable ghee 1.44 percent to Rs397/kg. Besides, rice irri-6 price increased by 1 percent to Rs74/kg, gram pulse 0.62 percent to Rs148/kg, mustard oil 0.52 percent to Rs370/kg.

The bureau further reported that year-on-year, electricity charges for Q-1 increased 75 percent, LPG 70 percent, cooking oil 61 percent, vegetable ghee 58 percent, mustard oil 57 percent, petrol 44 percent, washing soap 43 percent, diesel 35 percent, gents sandal 33 percent, beef 22 percent, wheat flour and garlic 21 percent each, masoor pulse 19 percent, mutton 17 percent, phone calls charges 16 percent and basmati rice price up 11 percent over same week prices of last year.

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