TAHIR AMIN

ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based weekly inflation for the week ended September 22 recorded a decrease of 8.11 percent due to a decline in the prices of food items including tomatoes (8.15 percent), bananas (1.90 per cent), garlic (1.31 percent), cooking oil (0.78percent) and non-food items electricity (64.23 percent) and LPG (3.82 percent), says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 29.28 per cent mainly due to an increase in prices of tomatoes (117.55 per cent), diesel (105.12 per cent), petrol (91.87 per cent), masoor (75.38 per cent), pulse gram (73.55 per cent), mustard oil (65.64 per cent), cooking oil 5 litre (63.63 per cent), washing soap (61.50 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (59.42 per cent), pulse mash (56.93 per cent), vegetable ghee 1kg (56.09per cent), onions (50.83per cent) and LPG (49.89 per cent), while decrease observed in the prices of electricity for q1 (45.61 per cent), chillies powder (43.05 per cent), sugar (19.20 per cent), and gur (3.37 per cent).

The SPI for the week under review in the abovementioned group was recorded at 203.21 points against 221.14 points registered in the previous week, according to the latest PBS data released on Friday.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 26 (50.98 per cent) items increased, 10 (19.61 per cent) items decreased, and 15 (29.41 per cent) items remained stable.

The SPI for the consumption group up to Rs17,732, Rs17,732-22,888, Rs22,889-29,517, Rs29,518-44,175 and above Rs44,175 decreased by 8.45 per cent, 11.91 per cent, 8.02 per cent, 6.07 per cent, and 4.08 per cent, respectively.

The items, which recorded a decrease in their average prices on a WoW basis included electricity charges for q1 (64.23 per cent), tomatoes (8.15 per cent), LPG (3.82 per cent), bananas (1.90 per cent), garlic (1.31 per cent), masoor (0.99 per cent), cooking oil Dalda or other similar brands (sn), 5-litre tin each (0.78 per cent), onions (0.46 per cent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib 2.5kg tin each (0.34 per cent) and vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib or other superior quality 1kg pouch each (0.06 per cent).

The commodities, which recorded an increase in their average prices included wheat flour bag 20kg (22.47 per cent), tea Lipton Yellow Label (6.42 per cent), chicken (4.52 per cent), pulse gram (2.54 per cent), bread plain (2.36 per cent), cigarettes Capstan 20’s packet each (1.82 per cent), rice basmati broken (1.51 per cent), potatoes (1.45 per cent), moong (1.31 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (1.07 per cent), toilet soap Lifebuoy (0.94 per cent), curd (0.87 per cent), sugar (0.82 per cent), beef with bone (0.75 per cent), eggs (0.61 per cent), petrol (0.60 per cent), maash (0.55 per cent), milk fresh (0.52 per cent), mutton (0.29 per cent), Sufi washing soap (0.28 per cent), cooked beef (0.28 per cent), match box (0.24 per cent), mustard oil (0.22 per cent), cooked daal (0.19 per cent), Georgette (0.06 per cent), and powdered milk Nido(0.02 per cent).

The commodities prices of which remained unchanged included gur, salt powdered, chilies powder National, tea prepared, long cloth 57” Gul Ahmed/Al Karam, shirting, lawn printed Gul Ahmed/Al Karam, gents sandal Bata pair, gents sponge chappal Bata pair, ladies sandal Bata, gas charges, firewood whole, energy saver, hi-speed diesel, and telephone call charges.