Pakistan’s short-term inflation decreased by 1.34% compared to the previous week but increased by 4.17% compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Out of 51 items tracked, 18 (35.29%) saw price increases, 14 (27.45%) saw decreases, and 19 (37.26%) remained stable.
Notable weekly price increases were recorded in diesel (1.06%), eggs (0.91%), rice basmati broken (0.84%), and georgette (0.83%). Other increases were seen in rice IRRI-6/9, firewood, beef, mutton, cooked beef, vegetable ghee, energy savers, and moong pulse.
On the downside, significant price drops were observed in tomatoes (23.11%), chicken (12.74%), electricity charges for Q1 (6.21%), bananas (5.07%), wheat flour (2.60%), onions (1.17%), pulse masoor (0.64%), and garlic (0.46%).
On a year-on-year basis, the most significant price increases were in ladies sandals (55.62%), tomatoes (49.02%), sugar (30.17%), and gas charges for Q1 (29.85%). Other notable increases included pulse moong, wheat flour, firewood, and beef.
Conversely, major decreases in prices were recorded for onions (38.23%), garlic (27.50%), electricity charges for Q1 (26.26%), and pulse gram (21.45%).
The lowest income group experienced a weekly inflation decrease of 1.59%, while the highest income group saw a decline of 1.23%. Yearly inflation for the lowest income group rose by 4.97%, while the highest income group saw an increase of 3.47%.
The average price of Sona urea increased by 0.13% to Rs4,394 per 50 kg bag, though it was down 5.37% from last year. Meanwhile, cement prices fell to Rs1,406 per 50 kg bag, a 0.13% weekly decline and a 4.14% decrease from last year.
PBS calculates short-term inflation using the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), which tracks the price movement of essential commodities on a weekly basis across 50 markets in 17 cities.
