SPI inflation falls 0.42pc, but prices remain high

ISLAMABAD: The weekly inflation saw a significant year-on-year increase of 45.49 percent in the week ending on May 25, driven by higher costs of wheat flour, gas, petroleum products, fruits, rice, and pulses, official data showed on Friday.

Although the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based inflation , which tracks the weekly price movements of essential kitchen items, saw a marginal decrease of 0.42 percent compared to the previous week, prices for most kitchen items remain prohibitively high.

Out of the 51 items included in the analysis, 18 items (35.3 percent) experienced price hikes, 16 items (31.37 percent) witnessed a decline in prices, while prices of 17 items (33.33 percent) remained unchanged, as reported in the SPI bulletin.

In comparison to the previous week, the prices of energy savers rose by 4.9 percent, long cloth by 2.75 percent, rice basmati broken by 1.86 percent, cooked beef by 1.3 percent, mutton by 1.2 percent, fresh milk by 1.2 percent, shirting by 1.14 percent, beef by 1.03 percent, and LPG by 3.4 percent.

On the other hand, chicken prices decreased by 8.91 percent, wheat flour by 3.3 percent, eggs by 3.03 percent, garlic by 2.83 percent, tomatoes by 2.6 percent, onions by 2.2 percent, bananas by 2.04 percent, pulse moong by 1.5 percent, pulse masoor by 1.26 percent, and 5-liter cooking oil by 1.01 percent compared to the previous week.

The data further revealed substantial year-on-year increases in prices, with cigarettes soaring by 138.5 percent, Lipton tea by 115 percent, wheat flour by 110 percent, Q1 gas charges by 108 percent, gents sponge chappal and bananas by 100 percent each, potatoes by 98 percent, broken rice basmati by 81 percent, rice Irri-6/9 by 80 percent, petrol by 80 percent, diesel by 79 percent, eggs by 70 percent, pulse moong by 63 percent, bread by 63 percent, and pulse mash by 56 percent, compared to the prices of the same week last year. However, prices of tomatoes declined by 43 percent, and onions by 34 percent.