Weekly inflation increases: Food and energy prices impact consumers

WEB DESK: In the latest report released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday, it was revealed that the weekly inflation, as measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), experienced a slight increase of 0.11 per cent for the week ending on October 5.

Out of the 51 items monitored, 19 items (37.26 per cent) saw a rise in prices, 16 items (31.37 per cent) witnessed a decrease, and 16 items (31.37 per cent) remained stable during this period.

The notable price hikes were observed in various food items, with tomatoes leading at 12.45 per cent, followed by onions (11.96 per cent), garlic (2.59 per cent), potatoes (1.81 per cent), cooked daal (1.27 per cent), eggs (0.84 per cent), beef (0.53 per cent), and bread (0.52 per cent).

Among non-food items, LPG experienced a significant increase at 3.11 per cent, along with firewood (0.76 per cent) and long cloth (0.51 per cent).

Conversely, significant decreases were noted in diesel prices (3.33 per cent), chicken (2.78 per cent), petrol (2.40 per cent), pulse masoor (1.80 per cent), pulse gram (1.73 per cent), gur (1.14 per cent), pulse moong (0.58 per cent), pulse mash (0.33 per cent), wheat flour (0.32 per cent), and vegetable ghee (0.20 per cent).

Examining the year-on-year trend, there was an overall increase of 37.07 per cent in inflation. Electricity charges for Q1 recorded a staggering rise of 118.16 per cent, followed by gas charges for Q1 at 108.38 per cent.

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Cigarettes saw a substantial increase of 94.69 per cent, while other items such as rice basmati broken (87.60 per cent), chilli powder (84.84 per cent), sugar (79.55 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (78.69 per cent), wheat flour (77.91 per cent), gur (67.68 per cent), Lipton tea (60.72 per cent), sponge chappal (58.05 per cent), salt powdered (56.48 per cent), and garlic (54.78 per cent) also experienced notable inflation.

However, some relief was observed in the prices of certain items. Tomatoes, for instance, saw a decrease of 54.05 per cent, while onions decreased by 18.21 per cent. Additionally, pulse gram prices dropped by 2.67 per cent, and mustard oil experienced a minor decrease of 0.16 per cent.