ISLAMABAD: According to the latest report from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday, Pakistan’s short-term inflation decreased by 0.01% compared to the previous week but saw a 2.30% increase when compared to the same period last year.
Out of 51 essential items monitored, 18 items (35.29%) experienced price increases, 8 items (15.69%) saw price decreases, and 25 items (49.02%) remained stable.
The major decreases in prices were seen in electricity charges for Q1 (9.01%), diesel (4.46%), pulse moong (1.71%), potatoes (1.15%), bananas (0.92%), and several pulses, including pulse mash (0.88%), pulse gram (0.66%), and pulse masoor (0.45%).
On the other hand, the major price hikes were observed in tomatoes (19.87%), onions (10.85%), wheat flour (9.38%), chicken (3.63%), garlic (2.28%), LPG (1.39%), sugar (1.20%), gur (0.82%), eggs (0.73%), and various textile products such as shirting (0.13%), long cloth (0.09%), and lawn printed (0.08%).
The year-on-year trend showed an overall increase of 2.30%. Among the biggest price hikes were seen in ladies sandals (55.62%), gas charges for Q1 (29.85%), sugar (26.11%), beef (13.03%), gur (12.44%), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (11.60%), firewood and pulse moong (11.41%) each, and vegetable ghee 1 kg (11.05%). On the other hand, the major decrease in prices was observed in onions (-45.99%), garlic (-25.25%), pulse mash (-23.47%), potatoes (-20.66%), electricity charges for Q1 (-18.12%), and tea Lipton (-17.93%).
For the lowest-income group, short-term inflation increased by 0.20%, while the highest-income group saw a slight decrease of 0.02%. On a yearly basis, inflation across income segments showed SPI changes ranging from 1.49% to 2.77%. The SPI for the lowest-income group increased by 2.67%, while the highest-income group saw an increase of 1.49%.
The average price of Sona urea stood at Rs4,403 per 50 kg bag, down by 0.06% from last week, and showing a 6.99% decrease from the previous year. Similarly, the average price of cement decreased to Rs1,412 per 50 kg bag, which is 0.03% lower than the previous week and 4.03% lower than last year.
The PBS calculates short-term inflation using the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) on a weekly basis, assessing the price movements of essential commodities to monitor the country’s price situation.
