Short-term inflation surges by massive 10pc in a week

ISLAMABAD: The burden of weekly inflation intensified, surging by nearly 10 percent in the week ending on November 16, compared to the previous week.

This notable increase was propelled by recent five-fold increase in gas prices, while the escalating costs of food items also played a significant role, according to official data.

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) gauges the weekly price moment of mostly kitchen items. It stood at 41.9 percent in the week under review over the same week a year earlier. Last week, it was 29.86 percent. Over the previous week, it increased by 9.95 percent, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported Friday.

Notably, the SPI inflation has been in double digits for most of the current and last fiscal years, reflecting the impact of currency devaluation and higher energy tariffs.

People were already reeling under the influence of high inflation, and now it will become harder for them as the cost of living keeps going up.

According to the PBS, over the past 10 weeks, the SPI level, when compared to the corresponding weeks of the previous year, indicates mixed trends. It stood at 26.25 percent during the week ending September 14, followed by 38.66 percent on September 21, 37.3 percent on September 27, 37.07 percent on October 5, 38.28 percent on October 12, 35.45 percent on October 19, 29.65 percent on October 26, 29.88 percent on November 2, 29.86 percent on November 8, and now, at the week ending November 16, it has surged to 41.9 percent.

Major increases were observed in the prices of gas at 480 percent, tea at 8.9 percent, masoor pulse at 5.3 percent, chicken at 4 percent, garlic at 3.1 percent, salt powdered at 3 percent, wheat flour at 2.6 percent, tea prepared 2.1 percent, LPG and potatoes by 2 percent each and shirting price in one week increased 1.1 percent.

Moreover, for the lowest income slab that earns up to Rs17,732/ month, the SPI inflation stood at 35.72 percent, while for the group spending more than 44,175/month, it was recorded at 39.67 percent.

For the week concerned, average prices of 25 items (49.02 percent) registered an increase, 13 items (25.49 percent) registered a decrease, while prices of 13 items (25.49 percent) did not show any change, the SPI bulletin said.

Gas charges (up to 3.3719 mmBtu) price increased by 480 percent to Rs1,711 per mmBtu; tea Lipton (of 190gm packet) by 8.88 percent to Rs612.5, masoor pulse increased by 5.28 percent to Rs326.3/ kg, chicken farm 3.99 percent to Rs365/ kg, garlic 3.1 percent to Rs549/ kg, salt powdered 2.93 percent to Rs69 per 800gm, wheat flour 2.64 percent Rs2,825 per 20kg bag, tea prepared 2.07 percent 57.1/cup, LPG 2.03 percent to Rs3,188 per 11.67kg cylinder, potatoes by 2 percent to Rs109/ kg, moong pulse 1.14 percent to Rs277/ kg and shirting 1.1 percent to 413 per meter.

Prices of some items decreased during the week including electricity charges (Q1) by 16.1 percent to Rs6.90 per unit, tomatoes by 11.2 percent to Rs169/ kg, sugar by 4.24 percent to Rs137/ kg, diesel by 2.15pc to Rs297.78/ liter, onions 1.5 percent to Rs121/ kg, vegetable ghee 1 kg 1.4pc to Rs513.5, petrol 0.73 percent to Rs282.44/ liter cooking oil 5-litre by 0.65 percent to Rs2,842, rice irri-6/9 0.42 percent Rs160/ kg, vegetable ghee 2.5-kg 0.28 percent to Rs1,369.