SPI up 0.41pc WoW on impact of food, LPG prices

KARACHI: Weekly sensitive price indicator (SPI) for the combined income group increased 0.41 percent week-on-week, and went up 12.75 percent year-on-year during the 7-day period ended July 15, 2021, data showed on Friday.

Inflation report released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said the increase was mainly on account of higher food and LPG prices.

Price of LPG cylinder climbed by Rs102.67 to Rs1,796.94 during the week under review, from Rs1,694.27 during the previous week, and Rs1,291.03 during the same period in 2020.

The SPI for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 150.65 points against 150.03 points registered in the previous week.

The SPI for the current week recorded an increase in the prices of tomatoes (8.18 percent), onions (6.96 percent), LPG (6.06 percent), cooking oil (3.89 percent), sugar (3.02 percent), garlic (2.74 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (2.55 percent), potatoes (2.41 percent), vegetable ghee 1kg (2.31 percent), eggs (1.86 percent), and basmati broken rice (1.12 percent) with joint impact of 0.52 percent.

All consumption groups witnessed an increase in SPI for the fifth consecutive week.

However, it would likely increase further due to the increase in prices of petrol by Rs5.4/litre and diesel by Rs2.54/litre. Last week ended July 8, the price indicator went up a mere 0.07 percent.

Analyst Fahad Rauf of Ismail Iqbal Securities in his report said perishable items continued to witness an increase due to the impact of Eid-ul-Azha.

“Our initial estimates suggest a CPI (consumer price index) reading of 8.5 percent in July 2021,” he noted.

SPI is computed on weekly basis to assess the price movements of essential commodities at shorter interval of time so as to review the price situation in the country. It comprises of 51 essential items and the prices are collected from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country.

During the week, prices of 23 items increased, 7 decreased, while prices of 21 items remained unchanged.

For those spending up to Rs17,732, SPI was up 16.72 percent YoY and 0.48 percent WoW. It went up from 161.99 points in last week to 162.77 points during the week under review.

Weekly SPI’s YoY numbers have remained in double digits for the past 20 weeks. The YoY change was 9.92 percent in the week ended February 18, 2021.

Meanwhile, the SPI for the consumption groups from Rs17,732-22,888; Rs22,889-29,517; Rs29,518-44,175 and above Rs44,175 increased by 0.43 percent, 0.43 percent, 0.40 percent and 0.49 percent, respectively.

Items, which recorded decrease in their average prices, included bananas (7.15 percent), chicken (3.43 percent), pulse moong (0.52 percent), electricity for Q1 (0.50 percent), pulse mash (0.30 percent), pulse gram (0.23 percent) and pulse masoor (0.01 percent).

According to analysts, chicken prices might continue to decline due to the Edi-ul-Azha impact.