Weekly inflation up 1.03%

ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), increased by 1.03 per cent for the combined consumption groups during the week ended on May 15, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday.

According to PBS data, the SPI for the week under review in the above-mentioned group was recorded at 313.24 points as compared to 310.05 points during the past week. As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 1.29 per cent.

The weekly SPI covers 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.The SPI for the lowest consumption group of up to Rs 17,732 witnessed an increase of 0.92 per cent and went up to 300.97 points from last week’s 298.24 points.The SPI for consumption groups of Rs 17,732 to 22,888; Rs 22,889-29,517; Rs 29,518-44,175 and above Rs 44,175, went up 1.02 percent, 0.98 percent, 1.06 percent and 1.03 percent respectively. During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 18 (35.29 per cent) items increased, 12 (23.53 per cent) items decreased and 21 (41.18 per cent) items remained stable.

The items, which recorded major increase in their average prices on a week-on-week basis included chicken (15.95 per cent), eggs (8.34 per cent), sugar (1.97 per cent), long cloth (1.74 per cent), powdered milk (1.59 per cent), gur (1.48 per cent), pulse gram (0.94 per cent), lawn printed (0.77 per cent), mutton (0.62 per cent), cooked beef (0.49 per cent) and energy saver (0.31 per cent).

The commodities which recorded major decrease in their average prices on a week-on-week basis included tomatoes (5.2 per cent), garlic (3.45 per cent), onions (2.57 per cent), potatoes (1.93 per cent), tea Lipton (1.14 per cent), LPG (0.9 per cent), rice basmati broken (0.54 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (0.38 per cent) and vegetable ghee 1 kg (0.23 per cent).

Year-on-year basis, the commodities that witnessed increase included ladies sandal (55.62 per cent), chicken (47.22 per cent), pulse moong (29.02 per cent), powdered milk (24.02 per cent), sugar (21.87 per cent), bananas (20.8 per cent), pulse gram (20.74 per cent), beef (18 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5 Kg (13.62 per cent), LPG (12.13 per cent), lawn printed (11.18 per cent) and firewood (10.44 per cent).

The commodities which recorded a decrease in their average prices on year-on-year basis included onions (53.29 per cent), garlic (33.18 per cent), potatoes (29.84 per cent), electricity charges for Q1 (29.4 per cent), tomatoes (23.61 per cent), wheat flour (21.02 per cent), tea Lipton (17.93 per cent), pulse mash (16.27 per cent), chilies powder (12.3 per cent), petrol (7.43 per cent) and diesel (6.3 per cent).