ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)-based inflation for the week ended June 22, 2023 increased by 0.33 per cent due to an increase in the prices of food items including wheat flour (4.95 per cent), potatoes (2.60 per cent), sugar (2.49 per cent) and non-food item, matchbox (1.12 per cent), says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 34.05 per cent mainly due to an increase in the prices of wheat flour (116.00 per cent), cigarettes (115.24 per cent), tea Lipton (113.55 per cent), gas charges for Q1 (108.38 per cent), rice basmati broken (76.65 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (76.24 per cent), potatoes (68.24 per cent), bananas (59.11 per cent), gents sponge chappal (58.05 per cent), chicken (57.48 per cent), salt powdered (51.61 per cent), bread (49.74 per cent) and dal maash (47.76 per cent), while a decrease is observed in the prices of onions (25.31 per cent), tomatoes (23.90 per cent), dal masoor (4.52 per cent) and diesel (3.89 per cent).

The SPI for the week under review was recorded at 256 points against 255.17 points registered in the previous week, according to the PBS data released on Friday. During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 20 (39.22 per cent) items increased, 12 (23.53 per cent) items decreased and 19 (37.25 per cent) items remained stable.

The SPI for the consumption group up to Rs17,732, Rs17,732-Rs22,888, Rs22,889-Rs29,517, Rs29,518-Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 consumption group increased by 0.52 per cent, 0.53 per cent, 0.48 per cent, 0.42 and 0.20 per cent, respectively.

The items, which recorded an increase in their average prices during the week over the previous include wheat flour bag 20kg (4.95 per cent), potatoes (2.60 per cent), sugar (2.49 per cent), salt powdered (1.31 per cent), pulse mash (1.14 per cent), matchbox (1.12 per cent), chicken (0.99 per cent), mutton (0.94 per cent), beef with bone (0.92 per cent), toilet soap Lifebuoy (0.91 per cent), garlic (0.83 per cent), curd (0.75 per cent), milk fresh (0.35 per cent), rice basmati broken (0.35 per cent), Georgette fabric (0.25 per cent), gur (0.20 per cent), powdered milk Nido (0.09 per cent), Sufi washing soap (0.02 per cent), bread plain (0.02 per cent), and rice irri-6/9 (0.01 per cent).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023