TAHIR AMIN

ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended July 21, 2022, recorded a decline of 0.22 percent due to a decrease in the prices of food items including tomatoes (7.04 per cent), bananas (3.34 per cent), vegetable ghee 1 kg (1.14 per cent), sugar (0.44 per cent) and non-food items diesel (14.62 per cent) and petrol (7.41 per cent), says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 32.82 per cent mainly due to an increase in diesel (106.16 per cent), petrol (103.34 per cent), masoor (91.29 per cent), onions (88.46 per cent), vegetable ghee 1kg (76.85 per cent), mustard oil (75.78 per cent), cooking oil 5 litre (75.35 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (71.71 per cent), washing soap (60.25 per cent), chicken (58.41 per cent), gents sponge chappal (52.21 per cent), pulse gram (51.46 per cent), garlic (43.70 per cent) and LPG (40.47 per cent),while major decrease observed in the prices of chillies powdered (43.42 per cent), sugar (15.51 per cent), tomatoes (6.18 per cent), gur (2.72 per cent), and moong (0.72 per cent).

According to the latest data, the SPI went down from 200.55per cent during the week ended July 14, 2022 to 200.10per cent during the week under review.

The SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs17,732, Rs17,733 to Rs22,888 and Rs22,889 to Rs29,517 increased by 0.33 per cent, 0.22 per cent and 0.13 per cent, however, for the group Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 and for above Rs44,175 it decreased by 0.05per cent and 0.48per cent respectively.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 31 (60.78 per cent) items increased, 11 (21.57 per cent) items decreased and nine (17.65 per cent) items remained stable, says the PBS.