ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended January 13, 2022 recorded a decrease of 0.43 percent due to decrease in prices of food items including chicken (3.40 percent), eggs (2.99 percent), potatoes (1.65 percent), wheat flour (0.61 percent), sugar (0.17 percent), and non-food item LPG (1.15 percent), says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The year-on-year trend depicts increase of 19.82 percent mainly due to increase in electricity for Q1 (84.86 percent, cooking oil 5 litre (53.49 percent), gents sponge chappal (50.25 percent), LPG (50.18 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (49.68 percent), vegetable ghee 1kg (49.34 percent), washing soap and mustard oil (45.85 percent) each, gents sandal (44.49 percent), masoor (39.14 percent), petrol (36.13 percent), and diesel (28.07 percent), while major decrease was observed in the prices of tomatoes (40.82 percent), moong (25.37 percent), chillies powdered (6.71 percent), and sugar (0.40 percent).

According to the latest data, the SPI went down from 168.12 percent during the week ended January 6, 2022 to 167.39 percent during the week under review.

The SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs17,733, Rs17,733 to Rs22,888, Rs22,889 to Rs29,517, Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 and for above Rs44,175 decreased by 0.30 percent, 0.38 percent, 0.42 percent, 0.46 percent, and 0.44 percent respectively.

Tarin for keeping a close eye on lentil rates

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 16 (31.37 percent) items increased, nine (17.65 percent) items decreased, and 26 (50.98 percent) items remained stable, said the PBS in weekly SPI data.

The commodities, which recorded increase in their average prices include onions (14.65 percent), bananas (1.51 percent), firewood whole 40kg (1.30 percent), match box (1.14 percent), mustard oil (0.95 percent), masoor (0.91 percent), mutton (0.87 percent), maash (0.60 percent), beef with bone (0.50 percent), pulse gram (0.43 percent), milk fresh (0.37 percent), toilet soap (0.34 percent), cooked daal (0.26 percent), gur (0.18 percent), rice irri-6/9 (0.07 percent), and moong (0.05 percent).

The commodities, which recorded decrease in their prices during the period under review include chicken (3.40 percent), eggs (2.99 percent), potatoes (1.65 percent), tomatoes (1.26 percent), LPG (1.15 percent), wheat flour bag 20kg (0.61 percent), garlic (0.47 percent), sugar (0.17 percent), and curd (0.16 percent).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022