Weekly SPI inflation increases 0.03pc

KARACHI: The Sensitive price indicator (SPI) for the week ended June 27 increased 0.03 percent over the previous week, and rose 11.83 percent as compared to weekly inflation in the corresponding period last year, official data showed on Monday.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed that weekly inflation for the combined income group recorded at 257.50 points up from 257.41 points last week. SPI for income group of up to Rs8,000 increased 0.11 percent during the week under review as compared to the preceding week, while registering 9.28 percent increase compared to weekly inflation in the corresponding period last year.

Weekly inflation for the group earning Rs8,001 to Rs12,000 increased slightly by 0.06 percent. The SPI for the people earning between Rs12,001 and Rs18,000 increased 0.04; and for those making Rs18,001 and Rs35,000 and above Rs35,000 it went up by 0.02 percent each.

However, weekly SPI increased a whopping 16.02 percent for the Rs35,000 quintile, compared to the weekly inflation in the corresponding period last year. PBS computes weekly price trend of 53 essential items from 17 urban centres. Average prices of 19 goods increased during the week ended on June 27 over the previous week.

The items which recorded the highest increase in average prices were cigarettes, potatoes, eggs, garlic, pulses mash and moong, prepared tea, yogurt, wheat flour, milk, rice irri-6, gur, vegetable oil, mutton, beef, red chilli powder, and mustard oil.

Only seven items registered decrease in prices. Those were chicken, bananas, onions, tomatoes, 11kg LPG cylinder, sugar, and gram pulse. Average prices of 27 items remained unchanged. Those items included wheat, broken basmati rice, plain-medium bread, powdered milk, salt, tea, cooked beef and lentils, electricity, gas, petrol, HSD, landline call, cloth, and soap.