Islamabad: Adding more to the misery of the flood-hit people, the Sensitive Price Index (SPI)-based inflation surged by 1.83 per cent to reach 44.58 per cent on a Year-on-Year basis.
According to the weekly report on prices by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, during the week that ended on August 25, prices of 23 items, including essential food and non-food items, increased by 1.83 per cent.
This includes a significant 43.09 per cent increase in prices of tomatoes, onions by 41.13 per cent and potatoes by 6.32 per cent.
Prices of cigarettes and LPG, which fall into the non-food item category, also increased by 2.26 and 1.19 per cent, respectively.
On the other hand, a decrease was observed in the prices of Pulse Masoor 1.18 per cent, Vegetable Ghee 1Kg 1.00 per cent, Vegetable Ghee 2.5Kg 0.82 per cent.
The report said that during the week, out of 51 items, prices of 23 (45.10 per cent) items increased, 7 (13.72 per cent) items decreased, and 21 (41.18 per cent) items remained stable.
It is important to note that the Sensitive Price Indicator (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. The SPI comprises 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities in the country.
