: The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) inflation in Pakistan has dropped to its lowest level in six and a half years, increasing by just 1.16% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis for the week ending January 16, 2024. This data was shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and analyzed by Topline Securities.
The YoY inflation reflects price hikes for key commodities, including potatoes (up 47.91%), gram pulse (39.77%), moong pulse (33.40%), powdered milk (25.77%), and beef (22.59%). Other notable increases were observed in the prices of vegetable ghee (16.34%), gas charges (15.52%), cooked daal (15.43%), garlic (15.27%), shirting fabric (14.83%), and firewood (13.02%).
Conversely, significant declines were recorded in the prices of onions (down 47.22%), wheat flour (35.89%), eggs (31.92%), powdered chilies (20%), tomatoes (19.83%), and electricity charges for Q1 (18.11%). Other decreases included masoor pulse (11.10%), mash pulse (9.20%), basmati broken rice (8.90%), diesel (5.47%), and petrol (1.18%).
On a weekly basis, SPI inflation dipped by 0.39%, primarily due to reduced prices of tomatoes (down 18.31%), potatoes (10.42%), onions (10.01%), eggs (8.64%), chicken (2.17%), and liquefied petroleum gas (1.21%). Smaller reductions were also noted in mash pulse (0.81%), mustard oil (0.67%), and garlic (0.54%).
Out of the 51 items tracked during the week, prices for 21 items (41.18%) increased, 10 items (19.61%) decreased, while 20 items (39.21%) remained stable.
This drop in SPI inflation offers some respite to consumers amid ongoing economic challenges, highlighting both rising and falling trends in commodity prices across the country.
