ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended April 1, 2021, recorded a decrease of 0.43 percent over the last week due to decrease in the prices of some food items including chicken (8.44 percent), tomatoes (5.70 percent), onions (1.95 percent), moong (0.84 percent), and non-food items including diesel (2.56 percent), petrol (1.36 percent), and LPG (0.51 percent), says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
According to the latest data, the SPI went down from 147.76 points during the week ended March 25, 2021 to 147.12 percent during the week under review.
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 15 (29.41 percent) items increased, 12 (23.53 percent) items decreased, and 24 (47.06 percent) items remained constant, said the PBS in weekly SPI data. The PBS data further stated that the year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 17.21 percent with most of the items increased mainly chilies powder (139.64 percent), chicken (80.59 percent), electricity for q1 (69.19 percent), eggs (42.26 percent), tomatoes (33.96 percent), gents sandal (33.37 percent), match box (30.47 percent), mustard oil (29.43 percent), gents sponge chappal (25.13 percent), sugar (22.73 percent), washing soap (21.47 percent) and vegetable ghee 1kg (20.86 percent), while a major decrease was observed in the price of onions (49.28 percent), garlic (44.92 percent), potatoes (11.11 percent), pulse moong (10.36 percent), pulse gram (4.20 percent), and LPG (0.67 percent). The SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs17,733, from Rs17,733 to Rs22,888, Rs22,889 to Rs29,517, Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 per month decreased by 0.32 percent, 0.38 percent, 0.39 percent, 0.43 percent and 0.46 percent respectively. The commodities, which recorded increase in their average prices include bananas (2.19 percent), sugar (1.92 percent), cooking oil Dalda or other similar brand (sn), 5 litre tin each (1.23 percent), mutton (1.04 percent), beef with bone (0.92 percent), shirting (0.91 percent), garlic (0.71 percent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib 2.5 kg tin each (0.35 percent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib or other superior quality 1kg pouch each (0.28 percent), bread plain (0.25 percent), curd (0.19 percent), milk fresh (0.11 percent), wheat flour bag 20 kg (0.11 percent), Sufi washing soap 250gm cake each (0.05 percent), and eggs (0.03 percent).
According to the PBS, the decrease was observed in the price of chicken (8.44 percent), tomatoes 1kg (5.70 percent), hi-speed diesel per litre (2.56 percent), onions 1kg (1.95 percent), petrol super per litre (1.36 percent), moong (0.84 percent), potatoes (0.74 percent), LPG (0.51 percent), gram (0.24 percent), mustard oil (0.15 percent), masoor (0.15 percent), and maash (0.05 percent).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021