ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Index (SPI)-based inflation for the week ended October 17, 2024 has witnessed an increase of 0.28 per cent following an escalation in the prices of tomatoes (26.24 per cent), moong (9.86 per cent), pulse gram (3.15 per cent), wheat flour (2.10 per cent), diesel (2.01 per cent), LPG (1.50 per cent), garlic (1.31per cent), chicken (0.96 per cent), eggs (0.68 per cent), mustard oil (0.65 per cent) and firewood (0.35 per cent), says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The year-on-year (YoY) trend depicted an increase of 15.02 per cent, owing to an increase of gas charges for Q1 (570.00 per cent), pulse gram (80.85per cent), onions (51.32 per cent), tomatoes (36.81 per cent), chicken (34.53 per cent), moong (33.23 per cent), powdered milk (25.37 per cent), beef (23.62 per cent), shirting (17.05 per cent), cooked daal (14.41 per cent), Georgette (13.22 per cent), and ladies sandal (12.52 per cent).

According to PBS on YoY, wheat flour witnessed a reduction of 32.20 per cent, electricity charges for Q1 (20.32 per cent), chilies powder (20.00 per cent), diesel (17.05 per cent), petrol (12.77 per cent), cooking oil 5-litre (9.10 per cent), rice basmati broken (8.18 per cent), sugar (7.31 per cent), eggs (6.24 per cent), bread (5.03 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (4.93 per cent), and washing soap (1.61 per cent).

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 19 (37.25 per cent) items increased, nine (17.65 per cent) items decreased and 23 (45.10 per cent) items remained stable.

On the other hand, decrease is observed in the prices of onions (7.02 per cent), bananas (2.83 per cent), gur (1.82 per cent), potatoes (1.15 per cent), maash (0.72 per cent), rice IRRI-6/9 (0.40 per cent), sugar (0.27 per cent) and rice basmati broken (0.09 per cent).

The SPI for the week under review was recorded at 319.79 points against 318.91 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 0.27 per cent, 0.28 per cent, 0.27 per cent, 0.28 per cent and 0.28 per cent, respectively.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024