Weekly inflation eases 0.26pc

ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended on March 15, 2018 witnessed a decrease of 0.26 percent over the previous week, data released by Pakistan Bureauof Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday.The SPI for the combined income groups was recorded at 221.67 points against 222.25 points last week.

Compared to the corresponding week of the last year, the SPI for the combined group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 0.76 percent.The SPI for the lowest income group (up to Rs8,000) also eased 0.29 percent as it inched down from 209.95 points in the previous week to 209.35 points in the week under review.

Over the last week, the SPI for the income groups ranging from Rs8001 to Rs12,000, Rs12,001 to Rs18,000, Rs18,001 to Rs35,000, and above also eased 0.27 percent, 0.27 percent, 0.27 percent, and 0.24 percent respectively.

During the week, average prices of 14 items dropped, 11 items rose, while rates of 28 items remained unchanged.The items, which registered decrease in their prices included onions, tomatoes, chicken farm, gur (jiggery), garlic, LPG Cylinder, pulse moong, pulse mash, eggs farm, pulse gram, wheat, wheat flour, and bananas.

On the other hand prices of lawn printed, sugar, cooked beef, tea, rice basmati (broken), beef with bone, vegetable ghee (tin), mutton, cooking oil (tin), rice irri-6, and georgette increased in the week.