ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s weekly inflation measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) contracted by 1.97 per cent for the week ending March 13 compared to the same week a year ago, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.
The SPI, which measures the cost of essential goods across 17 cities, however showed a 0.22 per cent increase over the previous week. Of the 51 monitored items, the prices of 12 rose, 15 declined and 24 remained unchanged.
During a span of one week, prices of tomatoes increased by 36.4 per cent, chicken 6.4 per cent, bananas 6.05 per cent, sugar 5.69 per cent, LPG 1.44 per cent, georgette and gur by 1.32 per cent each and bread price increased by 1.13 per cent over the previous week.
Some items, however, showed a slight decline in prices. This includes onions, which became cheaper by 16.7 per cent, potatoes 6.6 per cent, garlic 5.3 per cent, gram pulse 1.9 per cent, eggs 1.55 per cent and tea Lipton price reduced by 1.13 per cent.
Despite recent fluctuations, several essential items have witnessed significant price hikes over the past year. Ladies’ sandals surged by 75 per cent, moong pulse by 27 per cent, powder milk 26 per cent, beef 21.3 per cent, gram pulse 19.4 per cent. Similarly, chicken prices increased by 18.7 per cent, sugar 18.55 per cent, vegetable ghee 6.1 per cent, shirting 13 per cent, georgette 11.2 per cent and firewood cost increased by 11 per cent over a year ago.
Some commodities have seen notable reductions over the past year. Onions prices fell by 72 per cent, tomatoes by 52 per cent and wheat flour by 36 per cent. Chili powder became 20 per cent cheaper in the past year, while electricity charges for the lowest consumption slab decreased by 19 per cent. Other declines included mash pulse (-15 per cent), masoor pulse (-12.4 per cent), diesel (-9.9 per cent) petrol (-8.55 per cent) and LPG reduced by 5.35 per cent.