Short-term inflation measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) rose by 0.38% for the week ending February 27, 2025, driven by rising prices of essential food items ahead of Ramazan, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The most significant increases were recorded in tomatoes (11.49%), bananas (8.32%), eggs (5.43%), chicken (4.13%), potatoes (2.79%), onions (2.04%), beef (1.68%), sugar (1.55%), and cigarettes (0.51%).
On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, inflation increased by 0.32%, with notable price hikes observed in ladies’ sandals (75.09%), moong dal (28.47%), bananas (27.78%), gram pulse (25.93%), powdered milk (25.86%), beef (24.12%), potatoes (23.24%), garlic (17.26%), and vegetable ghee (16.29%). Other items such as shirting fabric (14.11%), firewood (12.73%), and Georgette fabric (10.89%) also saw price increases.
However, certain commodities recorded significant price declines over the past year. Onions (50.26%) and tomatoes (48.14%) saw the largest drop, followed by wheat flour (36.99%), chili powder (20%), electricity charges for Q1 (18.92%), maash dal (12.16%), tea (12.09%), masoor dal (11.23%), basmati broken rice (8.47%), diesel (8.07%), petrol (6.97%), and LPG (0.84%).
During the week, out of 51 essential items, prices of 19 increased (37.25%), 11 decreased (21.57%), while 21 remained unchanged (41.18%).Â
The lowest-income group (monthly income up to Rs17,732) saw a 0.63% reduction in SPI, while the second-lowest income group (Rs17,732-Rs22,888) recorded a 1% decline.Â
Conversely, higher-income groups saw an increase, with SPI rising by 0.45% for households earning between Rs29,518-Rs44,175 and 1.27% for those earning above Rs44,175.
Among the notable price drops during the week, Lipton tea fell by 6.62%, bread by 1.67%, maash dal by 1.12%, mustard oil by 1.08%, garlic by 1%, LPG by 0.37%, vegetable ghee (1kg) by 0.32%, gram pulse by 0.21%, and vegetable ghee (2.5kg) by 0.11%.
