Weekly inflation surges to its highest since January 2020

KARACHI: The weekly inflation in Pakistan, based on the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), for the week that ended on December 23, registered an increase of 19.83% (year-on-year) for the combined income group.

Topline Securities noted that the  year-on-year increase was the highest since January 2020.

Meanwhile, on a week-on-week basis, the SPI inflation recorded an increase of 0.40% going up from 168.16 points during the week that ended on December 16 to 168.83 points in the week under review.

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the average prices of 23 essential items, including tomatoes, eggs, pulse masoor, and sugar etc., rose during the outgoing week.

The bureau, in its weekly report, said that among food items, the tomatoes increased by 7.28%. Meanwhile, the prices of eggs increased by 2.95%.

Among non-food items, the price of men and women's footwear rose within a range of 8-20%, respectively.

Meanwhile, prices of five items, including potatoes, 200-gram chillies powder, onions, jaggery (g and a bag of wheat flour have declined.

During the week under review, the price of potatoes and onions dropped within a range of 2-5%, while the 200-gram chillies power packet decreased by over 4%. Other items that recorded a decline included jaggery and a bag of wheat flour.

Meanwhile, the rates of 23 essential goods including basmati rice, plain bread, mustard oil, cooking oil, tea, etc. remained unchanged.

The SPI for the lowest income group increased by 0.28% compared to the previous week. The index for the group stood at 177.82 points against 177.32 points in the previous week.