ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)-based inflation increased by 0.65 percent Week-on-Week (WoW) for the week ended September 3, mainly driven by higher prices of Onions, which hiked by 26.30percent, tomatoes by 2.55percent, potatoes by 0.96percent, and petrol by 0.90percent.

According to SPI data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) here on Friday, other items that recorded price increases included wheat flour, which increased by 0.88percent, chicken by 0.85percent, pulse mash by 0.67percent, garlic by 0.18percent, mustard oil by 0.13percent, and diesel by 0.09percent.

On the other hand, major reductions were recorded in the prices of bananas, which fell by 2.54percent, pulse Moong by 0.69percent, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 0.45percent, sugar by 0.18percent, eggs by 0.11percent, pulse gram by 0.06percent, and gur by 0.05percent.

During the week, of 51 items, the prices of 17 items, which constitute 33.33percent of the SPI basket, recorded a hike; the prices of seven items, which is 13.73percent of the basket, recorded a reduction; and the prices of 27 items, or 52.94percent of the basket, remained stable.

On a Year-on-Year (YoY) basis, the SPI recorded an increase of 8.35percent, driven by sharp rises in the prices of onions, which went up by 162.75percent, LPG by 53.61percent, diesel by 37.70percent, petrol by 31.01percent, electricity for Q1 by 25.24percent, wheat flour by 16.86percent, chilli powder by 16.37percent, bananas by 16.07percent, mutton by 16.03percent, beef by 13.31percent, fresh milk by 8.21percent and plain bread 8.09percent.

On a YoY basis, a reduction was recorded in the prices of potatoes, which fell by 31.61percent, chicken by 23.50percent, sugar by 19.38percent, eggs by 18.18percent, salt powder by 13.96percent, pulse gram by 12.95percent, pulse masoor by 12.16percent and pulse moong by 7.19percent.

Breaking down SPI by income groups, households with a monthly income of up to Rs17,732 registered an increase of 0.91percent, with SPI jumping from 349.42 to 352.61 points. For the Rs17,733-22,888 income group, the SPI went up by 0.83percent, going up from 350.55 to 353.46 points.

SPI for households with monthly earnings of Rs22,889-29,517 registered an increase of 0.71percent, going up from 371.88 to 374.51 points, while the Rs29,518-44,175 bracket SPI went up by 0.68percent from 359.15 to 361.61 points. The highest income group, Rs44,175 and above, recorded a 0.58percent increase, taking SPI up from 359.71 to 361.81 points. The combined SPI jumped from 361.07 points to 363.42 points, reflecting an increase of 0.65percent.