Weekly inflation declines by 0.33percent: SPI

The weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), dropped by 0.33 percent during the week ended on October 19, reported the 24NewsHD TV channel on Friday. 

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the Combined Index was at 277.11 compared to 278.04 on October 19, 2023, while the index was recorded at 213.74 a year ago, on October 27, 2022. Out of 51 items, the average price of 14 items increased, 17 items decreased, and 20 items remained stable.

Major decrease is observed in the prices of Chicken (10.19%), Onions (4.4%), Rice IRRI-6/9 (3.84%), Bananas (3.64%), Gur (3.4%), Pulse Masoor (2.36%), Sugar (2.22%), and Mustard Oil (2.17%).

Conversely, certain items witnessed an increase in prices, including Tomatoes (20.81%), Potatoes (3.33%), Eggs (1.63%), Salt Powdered (0.91%), Garlic (0.77%), Tea Prepared (0.67%), Bread Plain (0.56%), and Mutton (0.28%).

The year-on-year trend analysis depicted a significant increase in several categories, such as Gas Charges for Q1 (108.38%), Cigarettes (94.46%), Chilies Powder (84.11%), Rice Basmati Broken (78.51%), Wheat Flour (77.49%), Sugar (63.22%), Rice Irri-6/9 (62.83%), Gents Sponge Chappal (58.05%), Gur (57.73%), and Salt Powdered (54.84%). In contrast, price reductions were observed in items like Tomatoes (31.90%), Onions (24.88%), Pulse Gram (5.82%), Mustard Oil (4.16%), and Vegetable Ghee 1 Kg (0.92%).

This SPI report provides critical insights into the fluctuations in consumer prices and the cost of living, affecting households and businesses across Pakistan.