Combined income groups: SPI inflation up 0.15 percent WoW

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) inflation during the week ended April 16 against April 9, 2020 witnessed an increase of 0.15 percent for combined income groups, ie, from 124.97 points to 125.16 points, Pakistan Bureau of Statistic (PBS) revealed.

According to the PBS's weekly inflation data Friday, the SPI on Year-on-Year (YoY) basis (April 18, 2019 to April 16, 2020) also witnessed an increase of 7.69 percent, ie, from 116.22 points to 125.16 points.

The PBS has attributed the variations in the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) to a rise in prices of following food items: pulse masoor 8.01 percent, chicken 4.90 percent, pulse mash 4.45 percent, potatoes 4.39 percent, rice Irri 6/9 3.31 percent, pulse moong 1.22 percent, and tomatoes 1.01 percent, the variation in the prices of above items have a joint impact of 0.20 into the overall SPI for combined group of 0.15 percent.

Meanwhile, prices of following commodities witnessed a reduction during the week under review: onions 9.07 percent, garlic 8.88 percent, eggs 4.80 percent, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) 1.69 percent, wheat flour 1.38 percent, sugar 0.22 percent, mustard oil 0.19 percent, and vegetable ghee 2.5kg 0.01 percent.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 16 items (31.37 percent of the basket) increased, while prices of eight items (15.68 percent of the basket) decreased, and prices of 27 items (52.94 percent of the basket) remained constant.

On YoY basis, prices of the following items witnessed an increase: potatoes 104.51 percent, pulse moong 96.22 percent, pulse mash 65.19 percent, pulse masoor 47.96 percent, garlic 41.99 percent, eggs 36.26 percent, pulse gram 31.65 percent, cigarette 30.71 percent, vegetable ghee 1kg 29.31 percent, gur 29.16 percent, vegetable ghee 27.81 percent, sugar 23.88 percent, cooking oil 5kg 21.66 percent, bread plain 20.69 percent, Sufi washing soap 18.67 percent, long cloth 15.93 percent, and shirting 15.52 percent.

On YoY basis, prices of following items witnessed a reduction: tomatoes 46.95 percent, chicken 29.64 percent, hi-speed diesel 8.36 percent, electricity for Q1 6.33 percent, onions 3.51 percent, bananas 3.12 percent, and petrol 2.23 percent.

The SPI for the monthly income group up to Rs17,732 registered a decline of 0.01 percent, from 130.15 points to 130.14 points on WoW basis, and on YoY basis, it recorded an increase of 8.19 percent, from 120.29 points to 130.14 points.

For the income group with monthly income of Rs17,732-22,888, weekly inflation registered an increase of 0.04 percent, from 124.80 points to 124.85 points, while on annual basis, it witnessed an increase of 7.53 percent, from 116.11 points to 124.85 points.

For the monthly income group of Rs22,889-29,517, the SPI went up by 0.09 percent, from 126.99 points to 127.11 points, while on annual basis, it went up by 10.73 percent, from 114.79 points to 127.11 points.

Weekly inflation for the income group with monthly income of Rs29,518-44,175 went up by 0.15 percent from 123.95 points to 124.13 points, while on annual basis, the SPI for the above income group went up by 9.90 percent, from 112.95 points to 124.13 points.

For the income group of Rs44,175 or above monthly income groups, weekly inflation registered a growth of 0.20 percent, from 126.42 points to 126.67 points, and on annual basis, the SPI for the above income group went up by 6.95 percent, from 118.44 points to 126.67 points.

An analysis of the PBS data and market prevailing prices, revealed that there are slight differences in the prices of various items as the PBS has mentioned wheat flour price at Rs877.23 per 20kg bag or Rs43.86 per kg, while ex-mill wheat flour price is Rs1,180 per 25kg bag or Rs47.20 per kg, which in retail market is being sold at Rs1,220 per 25kg bag or Rs48.8 per kg.

Moreover, the PBS has mentioned retail price of moong pulse at Rs283.81 per kg but in retail the commodity costs Rs300 per kg.

Similarly, red chilli price has reached Rs30,000 per 40kg from Rs21,000 per 40kg in wholesales market but the PBS has mentioned retail price of 200gram pack chillis at Rs158.57 per pack, which is below the wholesales price.