ISLAMABAD: The weekly inflation rate has dropped to its lowest point in three years, reaching 12.72 per cent year-on-year for the week ending September 19, according to government data released on Friday.
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), which tracks the cost of essential items like food and household necessities, showed a 0.52 per cent decrease from the previous week, driven by lower energy prices and reduced costs for some key food items, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said. This marked the lowest level since October 2021, after weekly inflation peaked at 48.35 per cent in May 2023. Notably, the weekly inflation has been in double-digit since February 2020.
Of the 51 items monitored across 50 markets in 17 cities, the prices of 17 items rose, 15 decreased, and 19 remained unchanged compared with the previous week. The biggest price drops were seen in diesel, down 5.0 per cent to Rs250.76 per litre, onions 4.45 per cent to Rs144/kg, petrol 3.88 per cent to Rs250.2/litre, tomatoes 1.93 per cent to Rs117/kg, sugar 0.7 per cent to Rs141/kg and potatoes prices reduced by 0.57 per cent to Rs102/kg. Likewise, LPG prices declined by 0.57 per cent, cooking oil 0.45 per cent, moong pulse 0.44 per cent, masoor pulse 0.3 per cent, cigarettes 0.25 per cent and mash pulse price reduced by 0.24 per cent over previous week.
In contrast, chicken prices increased by 1.5 per cent to Rs449 per kilogram, gram pulse 0.83 per cent to Rs393/kg, cooked dal 0.81 per cent to Rs158/plate. Besides, shirting prices increased by 0.74 per cent, cooked beef by 0.72 per cent, eggs by 0.69 per cent, garlic by 0.65 per cent, and gur price increased by 0.59 per cent.
For households earning less than Rs17,732 per month, inflation decreased 0.42 per cent for the week, while the highest income group, earning more than Rs44,175 monthly, saw a drop of 0.58 per cent. On a yearly basis, the SPI rose 9.14 per cent for the lowest income group and 11.02 per cent for the highest income group.
While year-on-year, gas prices hiked by 570 per cent for the lowest consumer slab, followed by a 75 per cent spike in onions prices. Similarly, gram pulse prices increased by 57 per cent; milk powder and beef by 25 per cent each. Shirting price increased by 20 per cent, tomatoes 18 per cent, moong pulse 16.4 per cent, powder salt 15 per cent, and georgette 14 per cent.
Conversely, on a year-on-year basis, wheat flour was cheaper by 38 per cent, petrol 25 percent, diesel 24 per cent, chilies powder 20 per cent, electricity charges for the lowest slab by 13.5 per cent, sugar 11.4 per cent, cooking oil 11 per cent, and rice basmati (broken) 10 per cent. Besides, masoor pulse price reduced by 8.6 per cent, gur 7.7 per cent, vegetable ghee 6.4 per cent and LPG by 2.5 per cent over the same period last year.