Weekly inflation rebounds after seven-week dip

ISLAMABAD: After a seven-week streak of declining inflation, prices have edged up again, with the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) rising by 0.27 per cent for the week ending February 20 compared to the previous week, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.

The SPI, which measures the cost of essential goods across 17 cities, showed a 1.21 per cent increase in weekly inflation, up from 0.98 per cent the previous week. Of the 51 monitored items, the prices of 11 rose, 16 declined and 24 remained unchanged.

Banana prices surged by 11.9 per cent in one week, followed by eggs at 7.8 per cent and chicken at 4.5 per cent. Other significant increases included garlic (1.08 per cent), sugar (0.65 per cent), beef (0.52 per cent) and cigarettes (0.50 per cent).

Some items, however, showed a slight decline in prices. This includes tomatoes, which became cheaper by 2.8 per cent, diesel by 1.5 per cent, gram pulse by 1.24 per cent and onions by 1.16 per cent. The prices of potatoes, mash pulse, LPG, petrol, rice basmati broken and vegetable ghee also decreased but by less than 1.0 per cent compared to the previous week.

Despite recent fluctuations, several essential items have witnessed significant price hikes over the past year. Ladies’ sandals surged by 75 per cent, moong pulse by 28 per cent, gram pulse by 26 per cent, bananas by 24 per cent and beef by 22.5 per cent. Potatoes saw a 21 per cent increase and garlic a 19 per cent increase, while vegetable ghee and gas charges for Q1 each rose by 16 per cent. Shirting prices climbed by 14 per cent, and firewood became 13 per cent more expensive.

Some commodities have seen notable reductions over the past year. Tomato prices fell by 59 per cent, onions by 50 per cent and wheat flour by 37 per cent. Chili powder became 20 per cent cheaper in the past year, while electricity charges for the lowest consumption slab decreased by 19 per cent. Other declines included mash pulse (-12 per cent), masoor pulse (-11 per cent), rice basmati broken (-9.2 per cent), diesel (-8.07 per cent), rice IRRI-6/9 (-7.6 per cent), and petrol (-6.97 per cent).