A cut in petroleum prices pushed the short-term inflationary trend downwards for the week the week ended August 15, 2024, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) depicted a decrease of 0.16% WoW, while an increase of 16.86% compared to the corresponding week of the previous year.
The weekly SPI has been computed with base 2015-16=100 covering 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups/quintiles.
PBS data shows a major decrease was observed in the prices of Onions (4.91%), Petrol (3.15%), Diesel (2.44%), Wheat Flour (1.83%), Pulse Moong (1.81%), Chicken (1.57%), Bananas (1.36%), LPG (0.90%), Sugar (0.59%), Potatoes (0.58%) and Pulse Masoor (0.56%).
The federal government on Tuesday slashed the petrol price by Rs8.47 per litre and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs6.7 for the next fortnightly in a ‘gift’ for the masses on the occasion of Independence Day.
On the other hand, an increase was observed in the prices of Tomatoes (34.77%), Eggs (4.78%), Garlic (1.99%), Beef (0.88%), Cooked Beef (0.41%), Georgette (0.40%), Gur (0.39%), Curd (0.32%) and Mustad Oil (0.28%).
During the week under review, out of 51 items, prices of 19 (37.25%) items increased, 13 (25.50%) items decreased and 19 (37.25%) items remained stable.
The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 16.86%, Gas Charges for Q1 (570.00%), Onions (125.64%), Pulse Gram (42.00%), Tomatoes (27.77%), Powered Milk (26.51%), Garlic (25.16%), Gents Sandal (25.01%), Pulse Moong (24.64%), Shirting (23.84%), Beef (23.71%), Salt Powder (21.14%) and Long Cloth (16.64%).
A major decrease was observed in the prices of Wheat Flour (34.46%), Chilies Powder (17.78%), Electricity Charges for Q1 (16.91%), Cooking Oil 5 Litre (11.10%), Petrol (10.07%), Diesel (9.22%), Vegetable Ghee 2.5 Kg (8.84%), Rice Basmati Broken (8.59%), Vegetable Ghee 1 Kg (6.85%), Mustard Oil (5.43%), Sugar (5.17%) and Washing Soap (0.35%).
The SPI is computed on a weekly basis to assess the price movement of essential commodities at shorter intervals of time to review the price situation in the country. SPI comprises 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country.
