Weekly inflation surges by 21.69 per cent YoY

ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group saw a 0.45 per cent increase on a week-on-week (WoW) basis during the week ending on 6th June 2024.

The year-on-year (YoY) comparison revealed a substantial rise of 21.69 per cent, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The SPI’s Combined Index reached 309.91, up from 308.52 the previous week, and significantly higher than the 254.67 recorded a year ago. This index measures the change in prices of 51 essential items.

Out of these 51 items, the prices of 19 items (37.26 per cent) increased, 14 items (27.45 per cent) decreased, and 18 items (35.29 per cent) remained stable over the week.

The most notable price increases on a weekly basis were observed in:

– Onions: up by 33.21 per cent

– Tomatoes: up by 15.34 per cent

– Bananas: up by 4.93 per cent

– Pulse Gram: up by 3.69 per cent

– Potatoes: up by 2.62 per cent

Conversely, price decreases were recorded in:

– Bread: down by 3.02 per cent

– Garlic: down by 2.00 per cent

– Wheat: down by 1.99 per cent

– Petrol: down by 1.74 per cent

– Pulse Masoor: down by 1.43 per cent

The SPI’s weekly percentage change across different income groups showed increases across all quantiles, ranging from 0.33 per cent to 0.81 per cent. The lowest income group experienced the highest weekly rise of 0.81 per cent, whereas the highest income group saw a smaller increase of 0.33 per cent.

On an annual basis, the SPI increase ranged between 15.26 per cent and 25.04 per cent across different income segments. The lowest income group experienced a 15.26 per cent rise, while the highest income group saw a 19.45 per cent increase.

In other market updates, the average price of Sona urea was recorded at Rs4,746 per 50 kg bag, reflecting a 1.04 per cent decrease from last week but a 56.01 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the average cement price stood at Rs1,255 per 50 kg bag, marking a 1.40 per cent increase from the previous week and a 9.82 per cent rise compared to last year.

Read next: Gold prices remain unchanged in Pakistan