Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based weekly inflation for the week ended on May 28, for the combined consumption group, witnessed nominal increase of 0.13 percent, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported Friday.
The SPI for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 128.32 points against 128.15 points registered in the previous week, the data release by SBP revealed.
The weekly SPI with base year 2015-16=100 is covering 17 urban centers and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.
The Sensitive Price Indicator for the lowest consumption group upto Rs 17,732, also witnessed an increase of 0.57 percent and went up from 134.06 points in last week to 134.20 points during the week under review.
As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 9.63 percent, while, for the lowest consumption group, it increased by 11.07 percent.
The SPI for consumption groups from Rs.17,733-22,888; Rs.22,889-29,517; Rs 29,518-44,175 and above Rs44,175 per month increased by 0.12 percent, 0.14 percent, 0.14 percent and 0.12 respectively.
During the week, prices of 9 items decreased, 12 items decreased while that of 30 items remained stable.
The items, which recorded decrease in their average prices included tomatoes, garlic, onions, bananas, gram pulse, masoor pulse, LPG Cylinder, eggs and Mash pulse.
The commodities, which recorded increase in their average prices included chicken, potatoes, wheat flour, washing soap, gur, Moong pulse, sugar, rice (Basmati broken), mutton, curd, milk (fresh) and beef.
Similarly, the prices of the commodities that observed no change in their price during the week under review included rice (Irri-6/9), bread, beef, milk (powdered), mustard oil, cooking oil (loose), vegetable ghee (tin), vegetable ghee (loose), salt, chillies, tea (packet), cooked beef, cooked daal, tea (prepared), cigarettes, long cloth, shirting, lawn, georgette, gents sandal, gents chappal, ladies sandal, electricity charges, gas charges, firewood, energy saver, match box, petrol, diesel, telephone local call and toilet soap.
According to PBS analysis, the increase was mainly due to a rise in prices of food items i.e. chicken (2.45%), Potatoes (1.85%) and wheat flour (1.18%) with joint impact of 0.06 into the overall SPI for combined group of (0.13%).
