Weekly inflation falls slightly but still up by 43.79pc y/y

ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation eased slightly in the week ending on Jan. 25, but remained at a high level compared to the same period last year as food and energy prices continued to surge, official data showed on Friday.

The Sensitive Price Index (SPI), which tracks the prices of 51 essential items in 17 urban centres, fell by 0.14 percent from the previous week, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

However, the SPI was up by 43.79 percent year-on-year, reflecting the impact of rising food and energy prices on the cost of living in the country.

The PBS data showed that prices of 15 items increased, 13 decreased and 23 remained unchanged during the week.

Among the items that saw a price decline were tomatoes, potatoes, onions, tea, bananas, pulses, garlic and mustard oil.

On the other hand, prices of chicken, cooked lentils, jaggery, tea, pulses, energy savers, eggs, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), beef and wheat flour increased during the week.

The data also revealed significant year-on-year increases in the prices of some items, such as gas charges, tomatoes, cigarettes, chilli powder, wheat flour, sugar, sandals and garlic.

Conversely, prices of onions, mustard oil, bananas and vegetable ghee decreased from the same week last year.

During the week, notable reductions were observed in the prices of tomatoes (14.1 percent to Rs133/kg), potatoes (5.1 percent to Rs55/kg), onions (1.64 percent to Rs225/kg), Lipton tea (1.2 percent to Rs558/190gm packet), bananas (0.81 percent to Rs121/dozen), gram pulse (0.33 percent to Rs260/kg), garlic (0.26 percent to Rs594/kg), and mustard oil (0.17 percent to Rs503/kg).

Conversely, prices of chicken farm broiler (live) increased by 3.3 percent to Rs461/kg, cooked daal by 1.32 percent to Rs143/plate, gur by one percent to Rs210/kg, prepared tea by 0.92 percent to Rs58/cup, moong pulse by 0.80 percent to Rs307/kg, energy saver by 0.54 percent to Rs365/bulb, mash pulse by 0.43 percent to Rs547/kg, and farm eggs by 0.43 percent to Rs426/dozen within a week. Additionally, LPG prices rose by 0.28 percent to Rs3393/11.67kg cylinder, beef (with bone) by 0.25 percent to Rs843/kg, and wheat flour by 0.16 percent to Rs2816/20kg bag.

Further analysis of the data revealed significant year-on-year increases in the prices of certain items. Notable among these are gas charges for Q1 (1108.6 percent), tomatoes (133 percent), cigarettes (93.2 percent), chilies powder (81.7 percent), wheat flour (62.4 percent), sugar (59 percent), gents’ sponge chappal (58 percent), and garlic (55 percent). Similarly, gents’ sandal prices increased by 53 percent, gur by 52 percent, eggs by 47 percent, and rice IRRI-6/9 by 43 percent.

Conversely, prices witnessed a decrease in onions (8.6 percent), mustard oil (7.5 percent), bananas (6.5 percent), and vegetable ghee 1-KG (1.3 percent).