Weekly inflation falls 0.81%

ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), decreased by 0.81 per cent for the combined consumption groups during the week ended on May 29, the 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 309.8 points as compared to 312.34 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 0.41 per cent.

The weekly SPI with the base year 2015-16 =100 covers 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.The SPI for the lowest consumption group of up to Rs17,732 witnessed a decrease of 0.67 per cent and came down to 298.17 points from last week’s 300.18 points.

The SPI for consumption groups of Rs17,732 to Rs22,888; Rs22,889-Rs29,517; Rs29,518-Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175, came down 0.95 per cent, 0.69 per cent, 0.63 per cent and 0.74 per cent respectively.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 14 (27.45 per cent) items increased, 10 (19.61 per cent) items decreased and 27 (52.94 per cent) items remained stable.

The items, which recorded major decrease in their average prices on a week-on-week basis included electricity charges for Q1 (10.1 per cent), chicken (8.51 per cent), LPG (2.67 per cent), sugar (0.25 per cent), powdered milk (0.20 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (0.17 per cent), wheat flour (0.09 per cent), rice-irri-6/9 (0.07 per cent), garlic (0.05 per cent) and pulse moong (0.01 per cent).

The commodities which recorded major increase in their average prices on a week-on-week basis included tomatoes (4.54 per cent), potatoes (2.94 per cent), eggs (2.19 per cent), onions (2.17 per cent), gur (0.77 per cent), bananas (0.73 per cent), mustard oil (0.34 per cent), cigarettes (0.25 per cent), pulse mash (0.22 per cent), pulse gram (0.17 per cent), pulse masoor (0.14 per cent) and rice basmati broken (0.12 per cent).

Year-on-year basis, the commodities that witnessed increase included , ladies sandal (55.62 per cent), chicken (32.92 per cent), eggs (32.3 per cent), pulse moong (31.45 per cent), powdered milk (23.75 per cent), sugar (21.96 per cent), bananas (21.17 per cent), pulse gram (19.66 per cent), beef (17.51 per cent), LPG (16.30 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (13.67 per cent), and vegetable ghee 1kg (12.76 per cent).

The commodities which recorded a decrease in their average prices on year-on-year basis included onions (55.56 per cent), electricity charges for q1 (36.54 per cent), potatoes (29.28 per cent), garlic (26.51 per cent), tomatoes (19.22 per cent), tea packet (17.93 per cent), pulse mash (17.50 per cent), wheat flour (15.11 per cent), petrol (7.43 per cent) pulse masoor (7.42 per cent), diesel (7.02 per cent) and chilies powder (6.97 per cent).