Weekly inflation rises 0.76pc, driven by food and fuel prices

ISLAMABAD: The weekly inflation rate edged up for the third consecutive week, rising to 0.76 per cent in the week ending July 18th, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). This increase was primarily driven by higher prices for essential food items and fuel.

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), which tracks the prices of 51 essential goods, showed a year-on-year inflation rate of 24.36 per cent, up from 23.33 per cent the previous week. Out of the monitored items, 29 witnessed price increases, while only five saw a decrease. The remaining 17 items remained unchanged.

In just one week, the prices of live chicken farm increased by 10.26 per cent to Rs412 per kilogram; powdered milk rose by 4.56 per cent to Rs1,029 per 390-gram polybag; petrol increased by 3.77 per cent to Rs276.78 per litre; farm eggs rose by 2.76 per cent to Rs253 per dozen; potatoes by 2.3 per cent to Rs99 per kilogram; diesel by 2.25 per cent to Rs284.8 per litre; and garlic increased by 2.2 per cent to Rs285 per kilogram. Other notable increases included shirting up 0.94 per cent; sugar up 0.89 per cent; and gram pulse up 0.84 per cent over the previous week.

Conversely, some items saw price reductions. Tomato prices dropped by 4.45 per cent to Rs157 per kilogram; bananas decreased by 2.25 per cent to Rs157 per dozen; onions fell by 1.0 per cent to Rs112 per kilogram; and masoor pulse reduced by 0.19 per cent to Rs326 per kilogram compared to the previous week. On a year-on-yearbasis, gas prices for the lowest consumer slab skyrocketed by 570 per cent. Onion prices surged by 105 per cent, and tomatoes by 58 per cent. Prices of powdered milk rose by 39.15 per cent, gram pulse by 38.6 per cent, garlic by 36 per cent, chili powder by 29 per cent, and moong pulse by 28 per cent.

The price of men’s sandals, shirting and salt powder increased by 25 per cent each. LPG and mash pulse prices also rose by 23 per cent each, beef by 22 per cent, and electricity charges for Q1 by 21 per cent. In contrast, the price of wheat flour decreased by 32 per cent; cooking oil by 14 per cent; vegetable ghee by 11 per cent; mustard oil by 9.0 per cent; and eggs, basmati rice (broken), and Lipton tea by 3.0 per cent each over the same week last year.