ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)-based inflation for the week ended July 13, 2023, increased by 0.33 percent due to an increase in the prices of food items including sugar (5.22 per cent), wheat flour (4.23 per cent), gur (3.68 per cent), salt powdered (2.17 per cent) and eggs (1.34 per cent), says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 28.96 per cent mainly due to an increase in the prices of wheat flour (129.84 per cent), cigarettes (111.74 per cent), gas charges for q1 (108.38 per cent), tea Lipton (101.56 per cent), rice basmati broken (76.74 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (73.88 per cent), potatoes (61.67 per cent), gents sponge chappal (58.05 per cent), sugar (57.91 per cent), chicken (56.06 per cent), salt powdered (53.49 per cent), gur (48.30 per cent) and bread (46.86 per cent), while decrease is observed in the prices of onions (28.17 per cent), electricity for q1 (14.58 per cent), masoor (7.54 per cent), diesel (5.82 per cent), LPG (1.23 per cent), and vegetable ghee 1kg (1.16 per cent).

The SPI for the week under review was recorded at 258.63 points against 257.79 points registered in the previous week, according to the PBS data released on Friday.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 21 (41.17 per cent) items increased, 11 (21.58 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 0.51 per cent, 0.50 per cent, 0.46 per cent, 0.41 and 0.21 per cent, respectively.

The items, which recorded an increase in their average prices during the week over the previous include sugar (5.22 per cent), wheat flour bag 20 kg (4.23 per cent), gur (3.68 per cent), salt powdered (2.17 per cent), eggs (1.34 per cent), energy saver Philips(0.81 per cent), toilet soap (0.80 per cent), rice basmati broken (0.77 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (0.75 per cent), milk fresh (0.47 per cent), matchbox (0.36 per cent), tea prepared ordinary (0.33 per cent), garlic (0.33 per cent), Sufi washing soap (0.29 per cent), maash (0.27 per cent), potatoes (0.14 per cent), curd (0.14 per cent), beef with bone (0.12 per cent), cooked beef (0.08 per cent), powdered milk Nido(0.06 per cent) and mustard oil (0.04 per cent).

The items, which recorded a decrease in their average prices during the week over the previous include bananas (12.18 per cent), tomatoes (6.35 per cent), onions (5.32 per cent), LPG (2.17 per cent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib 2.5kg tin each (0.85 per cent), moong (0.70 per cent), cooking oil Dalda or other similar brand (sn), 5 litre tin each (0.51 per cent), pulse gram (0.46 per cent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib or other superior quality 1kg pouch each (0.36 per cent), masoor (0.18 per cent), and chicken (0.13 per cent).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023