Weekly SPI falls by 0.12pc, touches 111-week low

ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation fell to a 111-week low of 18.4 per cent year-on-year in the last week of July 2024, driven by declining prices of food and energy, official data showed on Friday.

Notably, since February 2020, the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) has persistently been in double digits. The index measures short-term inflation, tracking the prices of kitchen items and other household necessities purchased for daily use.

This kitchen inflation dipped by 0.12 per cent during the week ending on August 1, compared to the previous week’s price hike, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. This marks the first drop in the last five weeks. It is to be noted that the headline monthly consumer price index (CPI) inflation also fell to 11.09 per cent in July 2024, the lowest since October 2021.

The SPI is based on 51 essential items, with their prices collected from 50 markets in 17 cities. For the week, the average prices of 24 items increased, seven items declined, and prices of 20 items remained stable.

Over the span of one week, electricity charges for Q1 reduced by 15.5 per cent to Rs6.29/unit; bananas dropped by 4.9 per cent to Rs149/dozen; diesel decreased by 3.81 per cent to Rs273.94/litre; petrol fell by 2.23 per cent to Rs270.6/litre; and wheat flour prices declined by 1.0 percent to Rs1,912/20kg bag. Sugar and cigarette prices each reduced by 0.21 per cent compared to the previous week.

However, some items saw price increases, including chicken (live) by 5.9 per cent to Rs457/kg; eggs by 1.58 per cent to Rs261/dozen; and cooked daal by 1.05 per cent to Rs154/plate. Other items that became dearer by less than a percent included gram pulse (0.78 per cent), cooked beef (0.53 per cent), rice basmati (broken) (0.44 per cent), garlic (0.43 per cent), and onions (0.4 per cent).

The PBS further reported that on a year-on-year basis, gas prices hiked by 570 per cent for the lowest consumer slab, followed by an 87 per cent spike in onion prices and a 42 per cent increase in gram pulse prices. Similarly, powder milk prices rose by 32 per cent; moong pulse by 30 per cent; garlic by 28 per cent; and shirting by 25 per cent. Gents sandals were costlier by 25 per cent, salt powder and beef by 23 per cent each. Mash pulse was costlier by 21 per cent and energy savers by 18 per cent compared to the same week last year.

Conversely, on a year-on-year basis, wheat flour was cheaper by 32 per cent, electricity charges for Q1 by 15 per cent, cooking oil by 13 per cent, vegetable ghee (2.5 kg) by 10 per cent, eggs by 8 per cent, and chili powder and mustard oil by 7.0 per cent each. Rice basmati broken prices reduced by 6.0 per cent and diesel was cheaper by 0.16 percent compared to a year ago.