SPI inflation up 9.26pc YoY

ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: The SPI inflation during the week that ended May 14, 2020 against May 16, 2019 - Year-on-Year basis - recorded an increase of 9.26 percent for combined income groups, ie, from 116.52 points to 127.31 points, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistic (PBS) revealed.

According to the PBS’s weekly inflation data released Friday, the SPI on Week-on-Week (WoW) basis from May 8, 2020 to May 14, 2020 also recorded an increase of 0.01 percent, from 127.30 points to 127.31 points.

The PBS has attributed the variations in the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) to a rise in prices of following food items: bananas 4.38 percent, chilli powder 3.10 percent, Ric Basmati broken 1.49 percent, and milk fresh 1.13 percent, with joint impact of 0.05 into the overall SPI for combined group of 0.01 percent.

While during the week under review, prices of following commodities witnessed a reduction: onions 8.39 percent, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) 5.80 percent, pulse gram 3.42 percent, pulse masoor 2.11 percent, potatoes 0.87 percent, pulse moong 0.79 percent, pulse mash 0.46 percent, eggs 0.26 percent, sugar 0.25 percent, and wheat flour and vegetable ghee 1kg pack 0.05 percent.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 14 items (27.45 percent of the basket) increased, while prices of 11 items (21.57 percent of the basket) decreased, and prices of the 26 items (50.98 percent of the basket) remained constant. On YoY basis, prices of the following items witnessed an increase: potatoes 112.33 percent, pulse moong 81.67 percent, pulse mash 53.51 percent, pulse masoor 38.10 percent, cigarettes 30.64 percent, garlic 29.48 percent, vegetable ghee 1kg 28.46 percent, vegetable ghee 2.5kg 27.41 percent, gur 26.38 percent, cooking oil 5kg 20.92 percent, bread plain 18.83 percent, sugar 18.67 percent, Sufi washing soap 18.18 percent, pulse gram 18.03 percent, eggs 16.61 percent, and rice Irri-6 15.28 percent.

While on YoY basis, prices of following items witnessed a reduction: tomatoes 37.96 percent, hi-speed diesel 34.38 percent, petrol 24.65 percent, onions 19.48 percent, LPG 3.84 percent, and electricity for Q1 0.27 percent.

The SPI for the monthly income group up to Rs17,732 registered a reduction of 0.04 percent from 133.36 points to 133.30 points on WoW basis, and on YoY basis, it recorded an increase of 10.93 percent, from 120.17 points to 133.30 points.

For the income group with monthly income of Rs17,732-22,888, weekly inflation registered a decline of 0.02 percent, from 127.90 points to 127.88 points, while on annual basis, it witnessed an increase of 10.47 percent, from 115.76 points to 127.88 points.

For the monthly income group of Rs22,889-29,517, the SPI went up by 0.01 percent from 129.98 points to 129.99 points, while on annual basis, it went up by 13.17 percent, from 114.86 points to 129.99 points.

Weekly inflation for the income group with monthly income of Rs29,518-44,175 went up by 0.04 percent, from 126.80 points to 126.85 points, while on annual basis, the SPI for the above income group went up by 11.91 percent, from 113.35 points to 126.85 points.

For the income group of Rs44,175 or above monthly income groups, weekly inflation registered a growth of 0.01 percent, from 128.21 points to 128.22 points, and on annual basis, the SPI for the above income group went up by 7.64 percent, from 119.12 points to 128.22 points.