Short-term inflation hits 43% in latest weekly report

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported a surge in annual short-term inflation, reaching 43.16 percent in the week ending on December 14.

Pulses, rice, and vegetables primarily fueled this increase, marking the fifth consecutive week with inflation above 41 percent. The rise is attributed to higher gas prices and electricity tariffs compared to the previous year, significantly impacting consumer purchasing power and highlighting financial strain on households.

On an annual basis, notable increases were observed in gas charges for Q1 (1108.59%), cigarettes (93.22%), chillies powder (81.74%), wheat flour (81.40%), garlic (71.17%), rice basmati broken (64.30%), rice IRRI-6/9 (60.64%), gents sponge chappal (58.05%), gents sandal (53.37%), sugar (50.52%), gur (50.42%), and pulse mash (44.80%). In contrast, prices of onions decreased by 25.11% year-on-year, along with reductions in mustard oil (4.40%), vegetable ghee 1kg (2.12%), bananas (1.05%), and vegetable ghee 2.5kg (0.95%).

The short-term inflation is measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), which stood at 311.58 compared to 311.78 in the preceding week. The SPI, comprising 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is computed weekly to assess the prices of essential commodities and services at shorter intervals.

According to PBS data, 19 items experienced price increases, 10 items saw decreases, and prices of 22 items remained stable compared to the previous week. Notable increases included sugar (6.02%), pulse gram (2.57%), eggs (2.33%), rice IRRI-6/9 (1.54%), pulse moong (1.23%), georgette (1.16%), onion (1.05%), cooked beef (0.76%), pulse masoor (0.69%), shirting (0.43%), long cloth (0.20%), and LPG (0.16%).

Conversely, items witnessing price drops included potatoes (12.18%), tomatoes (5.18%), tea Lipton (2.57%), chicken (1.19%), rice basmati broken (0.52%), mustard oil (0.36%), garlic (0.33%), and vegetable ghee 2.5kg (0.31%).

On an annual basis, SPI inflation had reached a record 48.35% in early May, decelerating to as low as 24.4% in late August before surpassing 40% during the week ending on November 16.