Lahore: The country’s weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) reading for the week that ended on August 27 showed a dip of 0.14 percent for the combined consumption group compared to the previous week.
SPI is a weekly inflationary indicator that measures the change in the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by the households in the country. The SPI for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 135.03 points against 135.22 points registered in the previous week, according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
However, the SPI for the same week a year ago saw the expected rise of 8.39 percent. During the week, prices of 11 items decreased, while the prices for 12 items increased. Another 28 items that make up the basket used for calculation remained constant.
Chicken, LPG cylinders, bananas, sugar, garlic, eggs, wheat flour, vegetable oil (tin), vegetable oil (loose), curd, and fresh milk all saw price decrease. Commodities that rose in price included tomatoes, onions, pulses, rice, sugar, potatoes, mash pulse, cooking oil (tin), powdered milk, and beef.
The SPI measurement that has been taken, with the base year being used for the comparison being 2015-16, covers 17 urban centers and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.
The Sensitive Price Indicator for the lowest consumption group up to Rs17,732 witnessed 0.08 percent decrease and went down from 141.62 points in last week to 141.50 points during the week under review.
