Weekly inflation declines, but yearly prices up 12.72 per cent: PBS report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s short-term inflation saw a marginal decline of 0.52 per cent on a week-on-week (WoW) basis for the week ending September 19.

However, the year-on-year (YoY) inflation rate remained elevated, registering a 12.72 per cent increase.

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), a key measure used by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to track the price movements of essential commodities, is assessed weekly to gauge short-term inflationary trends in the country.

The SPI comprises a basket of 51 essential items sourced from 50 markets across 17 cities nationwide.

During the observed week, 17 of the monitored items (33.34 per cent) experienced price increases, 15 items (29.41 per cent) saw price reductions, while the prices of 19 items (37.25 per cent) remained unchanged.

The most notable weekly declines were recorded in the prices of diesel (down 5.00 per cent), onions (down 4.45 per cent), petrol (down 3.88 per cent), tomatoes (down 1.93 per cent), and sugar (down 0.70 per cent).

Conversely, the prices of key items such as chicken (up 1.49 per cent), pulse gram (up 0.83 per cent), cooked daal (up 0.81 per cent), shirting fabric (up 0.74 per cent), and cooked beef (up 0.72 per cent) saw upward trends.

When analysing the SPI across different income groups, the data indicated a uniform decrease in inflation across all income brackets, with weekly price declines ranging from 0.42 per cent to 0.58 per cent. The lowest income group experienced a 0.42 per cent reduction, while the highest income group saw a slightly larger decline of 0.58 per cent.

On an annual basis, SPI showed a more significant inflationary impact, with year-on-year increases ranging from 9.14 per cent to 16.09 per cent across different income segments.

The lowest income group experienced a 9.14 per cent rise in the SPI, while the highest income group witnessed an 11.02 per cent increase.

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