ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended April 22 recorded a decrease of 0.40 percent due to decline in the prices of food items including tomatoes (30.22 percent), onion (8.12 percent), eggs (5.81 percent), sugar (2.68 percent), and non-food items including diesel (2.02 percent) and petrol (1.58 percent), says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The year-on-year trend depicts increase of 17.68 percent with most of the items increased mainly chili powder (139.64 percent), chicken (81.33 percent), electricity for Q1 (67.03 percent), eggs (47.01 percent), tomatoes (35.24 percent), gents sandal (33.37 percent), mustard oil (31.41 percent), match box (30.47 percent), bananas (27.72 percent), gents sponge sandal (25.13 percent), and vegetable ghee (22.36 percent), while a major decrease was observed in the prices of onion (43.17 percent), garlic (39.03 percent), moong (18.97 percent), potatoes (12.88 percent), masoor (12.65 percent), and pulse gram (7.15 percent).
According to the latest data, the SPI went down from 148.80 points during the week ended April 15, to 148.20 percent during the week under review.
The SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs 17,733 from Rs17,733 to Rs22,888; Rs22,889 to Rs29,517; Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 per month decreased by 0.41 percent, 0.41 percent, 0.38 percent, 0.40 percent, and 0.41 percent respectively.
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 12 (23.53 percent) items increased, 13 (25.49 percent) items decreased, and 26 (50.98 percent) items remained constant, said the PBS in weekly SPI data.
The commodities, which recorded increase in their average prices include wheat flour bag 20kg (6.93 percent), potatoes (1.94 percent), mutton (1.48 percent), beef with bone (0.84 percent), mustard oil (0.74 percent), masoor (0.62 percent), gur (0.45 percent), curd (0.15 percent), toilet soap Lifebuoy (0.12 percent), milk fresh (0.06 percent), rice irri-6/9 (0.04 percent), and powdered milk Nido 390gm polybag each (0.02 percent).
According to the PBS, decrease was observed in the price of tomatoes (30.22 percent), onion (8.12 percent), eggs (5.81 percent), garlic (2.92 percent), sugar (2.68 percent), hi-speed diesel per litre (2.02 percent), petrol super per litre (1.58 percent), bananas (1.03 percent), LPG (0.96 percent), chicken (0.89 percent), gram (0.53 percent), maash (0.27 percent), and moong (0.17 percent).
The items prices of which remained unchanged during the period under review include rice basmati, bread plain, cooking oil Dalda or other similar brand (SN), 5 litre tin each, vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib 2.5 kg tin each, salt, chilies powder National 200gm packet each, tea Lipton Yellow Label 190gm packet each, cooked beef, cooked daal, tea prepared, cigarettes Capstan 20's packet, long cloth 57" Gul Ahmed/Al Karam, lawn printed Gul Ahmed/Al Karam, Georgette, gents sandal Bata pair, gents sponge sandal Bata pair, ladies sandal Bata pair, electricity charges for Q1 per unit, gas, firewood whole, energy saver, match box, and telephone call charges.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021