Weekly inflation dips with falling prices of tomatoes, eggs

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s short-term inflation dropped by 0.77 per cent compared to the previous week but rose by 0.52 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to a report by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.

Out of the 51 essential items monitored, the prices of 14 items (27.45 per cent) went up, 12 items (23.53 per cent) decreased, while the prices of 25 items (49.02 per cent) remained stable during the week.

Significant price increases were observed in sugar (up 2.93 per cent), bananas (up 2.70 per cent), garlic (up 0.60 per cent), broken Basmati rice (up 0.47 per cent), 1 kg of vegetable ghee (up 0.33 per cent), moong pulse (up 0.25 per cent), cooked daal (up 0.21 per cent), IRRI-6/9 rice (up 0.15 per cent), and firewood (up 0.13 per cent).

On the other hand, major price drops were noted for tomatoes (down 32.99 per cent), eggs (down 10.23 per cent), onions (down 9.79 per cent), potatoes (down 7.37 per cent), LPG (down 2.70 per cent), gram pulse (down 1.61 per cent), chicken (down 1.00 per cent), mash pulse (down 0.76 per cent), and gur (down 0.50 per cent).

Year-on-year figures showed an inflation increase of 0.52 per cent, with the highest price hikes seen in ladies’ sandals (up 75.09 per cent), potatoes (up 44.30 per cent), gram pulse (up 37.98 per cent), moong pulse (up 32.67 per cent), powdered milk (up 25.89 per cent), beef (up 22.37 per cent), 1 kg of vegetable ghee (up 16.87 per cent), garlic (up 16.28 per cent), gas charges for the first quarter (up 15.52 per cent), shirting fabric (up 14.83 per cent), 2.5 kg of vegetable ghee (up 14.54 per cent), and firewood (up 0.13 per cent).

Meanwhile, the largest price drops on a yearly basis were seen in onions (down 51.59 per cent), eggs (down 39.15 per cent), tomatoes (down 37.43 per cent), wheat flour (down 36.29 per cent), powdered chillies (down 20.00 per cent), electricity charges for the first quarter (down 18.11 per cent), masoor pulse (down 11.01 per cent), mash pulse (down 10.27 per cent), broken Basmati rice (down 8.56 per cent), diesel (down 5.47 per cent), LPG (down 1.79 per cent), and petrol (down 1.18 per cent).

Among different income groups, the lowest-income group saw a weekly inflation decrease of 1.04 per cent, while inflation for the highest-income group fell by 0.70 per cent. On an annual basis, inflation changes ranged between -0.52 per cent and 1.03 per cent, with the lowest-income group experiencing a 0.52 per cent decrease and the highest-income group seeing a 1.03 per cent increase.

The price of Sona urea averaged Rs4,530 per 50 kg bag, unchanged from the previous week and 0.52 per cent lower than last year. Cement prices dropped to Rs1,385 per 50 kg bag, down 0.44 per cent from the previous week but 14.24 per cent higher than last year’s price.

PBS uses the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) on a weekly basis to monitor the prices of essential items and track short-term inflation trends across the country. The SPI covers 51 essential items, with prices collected from 50 markets in 17 cities across Pakistan.

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