The year-on-year Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) in the week ending August 19, showed a rise of 14.60 percent for the lowest income group earning up to Rs 3,000 per month, while the combined SPI for different income groups is 13.05 percent.
SPI covers 53 essential items of daily use and the figures have been collected from 17 different urban centres of the country.
According to the weekly SPI bulletin issued by the Federal Bureau of Statistics, released on Saturday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which stood at 107.53 in July 2003 rose to 117.56 in July 2004, edging up every month by a percentage point of one or two. The base was fixed at 100 points in 2000, as Bureau's data was revised.
For the poorest income group, the indictor peaked to 118.64 this July as against 106.48 in July 2003.
The message of the weekly and monthly data prepared by the Bureau is that inflation is trotting upward, somewhat disturbingly - a fact admitted by the economic managers.
Shaukat Aziz, the Prime Minister-designate in the few interviews to the media after his election to the National Assembly, too has expressed concern at the price hike and its adverse impact on the common man.
The gradual rise is due to external factors and some internal ones. The whopping rise in oil prices hovering above $ 48 per barrel is affecting western economies eventually hitting the vulnerable developing economies.
To save the people from the immediate impact of oil price hike, the government has decided to freeze the domestic POL prices.
The chief domestic factors for inflation are sizable increase in the price of wheat, atta, vegetables, fuel and energy and beef and mutton. Most of these products are costlier by a margin of two digits over the corresponding period of last year.
The price hike of wheat and atta is more due to the manipulation of the speculators and hoarders. Official sources expect that the price of wheat/atta would come down in September when shipments of wheat start arriving in the county.
Judging from the prices in the corresponding period of last year, onions are dearer by one hundred percent; potatoes 72 percent; a cup of tea 86 percent; chicken (farm) 16 percent; garlic 28 percent; fresh milk over 10 percent; firewood 15 percent; and a new item of LPG cylinder by 27 percent. These are some of the 17 items, which registered increase in price during the week under review.
Though 8 items showed decrease in rates during the week, the year old price hike persisted. For instance wheat flour is dearer by 23 percent; eggs 21 percent; wheat 25 percent; pulse gram 11 percent and vegetable ghee loose 7 percent. Similarly 28 items which posted no change during the week, continued to hit the family budgets for a year or more, as Irri rice was dearer by 20 percent; beef 31 percent; mutton 31 percent; milk, curd and bread 11 percent each; petrol and diesel 16 and 18 percent respectively and kerosene 17 percent and bath soap by 32 percent.
The year-on -year double-digit increase in fertiliser prices will raise the cost of production of major and minor crops. The rise in the case of Urea sona is 8 percent; Urea kissan 9 percent; and ammonium sulphate 6 percent. All other types are much more costly as compared to their prices one-year back. For instance Dia ammon phosphate by 12.68 percent; nitro phosphate by 25.47 percent; s. sp phosphate (gr) and (pd) 21.70 percent each; T.sp. phosphate (gr) 34.09 percent; C. Ammonium nitrate 26.14 percent; and sulphate of Pot 14.10 percent.