Pakistan's weekly inflation continues to rise unabated

• Prices of 17 items, including onions, tomatoes rise.
• Rates for 14 essential goods declined.
• SPI-based inflation rate rose 29.44% year-on-year.

KARACHI: The weekly inflation, based on the sensitive price index (SPI) continued to rise despite a massive decrease in petroleum prices due to sky-high prices of perishable items.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday reported that the SPI-based inflation rate rose 0.29% during the week ended October 6 compared to last week; meanwhile, it rose 29.44% compared to the same period of last year.

Data released by PBS showed that the average prices of 17 essential items, onions, tomatoes, bananas, and other items increased during the outgoing week.

Prices of 14 items, including wheat flour, pulse masoor, garlic, and chicken have declined. Meanwhile, the rates for 20 essential goods remained unchanged.

The combined income group index went up from 209.18 points during the week that ended on September 29 to 211.73 points in the week under review.

The SPI for the lowest income group increased by 0.29% compared to the previous week. The index for the group stood at 205.73 points against 205.13 points in the previous week.

On weekly basis prices of following essential items rose:

Food items:

• Tomatoes —27.4%
• Onions — 10.22%
• Bananas — 2.24%
• Powdered Milk — 1.18%

On weekly basis prices of following essential items declined:

Food items:

• Pulse Masoor — -5.16%
• Potatoes — -4.87%
• Pulse Gram — -3.06%
• Garlic — -0.73%
• Chicken — -0.52%
• Mustard Oil — -0.45%
• Wheat Flour bag — -0.36%

Non-food items:

• Petrol — -5.29%
• Diesel — -4.87%
• LPG — -4.49%

SPI is computed on weekly basis to assess the price movements of essential commodities at a shorter interval of time to review the price situation in the country. It comprises 51 essential items and the prices are collected from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country.