ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) for the week ended on February 29, 2024, increased by 1.27 per cent due to an increase in the prices of gas charges (15.52 per cent), bananas (5.25 per cent), onions (2.87 per cent), eggs (1.32 per cent), and moong (0.27 per cent), says Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 32.73 per cent mainly due to an increase in the prices of gas charges for Q1 (570 per cent), tomatoes (167.08 per cent), chilies powder (81.74 per cent), wheat flour (63.51 per cent), gents sponge chappal (58.05 per cent), gents sandal (53.37 per cent), sugar (49.52 per cent), gur (45.52 per cent), garlic (43.22 per cent), salt powdered (39.30 per cent) and tea Lipton (31.10 per cent) while a decrease is observed in the prices of vegetable ghee 1kg (19.43 per cent), bananas (19.33 per cent), mustard oil (16.28 per cent), cooking oil 5-litre (15.28 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (12.50 per cent), LPG (8.51 per cent), chicken (1.28 per cent), and cigarettes (0.05 per cent).
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 14 (27.45 per cent) items increased, 12 (23.53 per cent) items decreased and 25 (49.02 per cent) items remained stable.
The SPI for the week under review was recorded at 319.30 points against 315.31 points registered in the previous week, according to the PBS data released on Friday.
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 increased by 1.36 per cent, 1.75 per cent, 1.86 per cent, 1.27 per cent, and 0.66 per cent respectively.
The items’ prices which increased during the period review include gas charges for Q1 (570 per cent), bananas (5.25 per cent), onions (2.87 per cent), eggs (1.32 per cent), tea prepared (0.84 per cent), potatoes (0.68 per cent), garlic (0.62 per cent), beef with bone (0.32 per cent), toilet soap Lifebuoy (0.27 per cent), moong (0.27 per cent), sugar (0.18 per cent), rice basmati broken (0.08 per cent), Georgette (0.07 per cent), and mutton (0.04 per cent).
The items prices of which decreased during the period review include tomatoes (11.48 per cent), maash (0.97 per cent), LPG (0.85 per cent), cooking oil Dalda or other similar brand (sn), 5-litre tin each (0.44 per cent), bread plain (0.35 per cent), gur (0.33 per cent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib or other superior quality 1kg pouch each (0.22 per cent), masoor (0.21 per cent), mustard oil (0.20 per cent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib 2.5kg tin each (0.13 per cent), wheat flour bag 20kg (0.11 per cent), and chicken (0.09).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024