Food costs push short-term inflation up 9pc
ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), surged by 9.05 per cent year-on-year for the week ending July 30, mainly due to prices of perishable food products, according to official data released on Friday. Short-term inflation has started rising again, mainly driven by a steady increase in daily petroleum prices. As a result, the transportation cost has…
Islamabad witnessed a 9.05% year-on-year surge in short-term inflation for the week ending July 30, primarily due to soaring food prices, according to official data. This inflation rise, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), has resumed its upward trajectory, primarily driven by rising petroleum prices, which have subsequently increased transportation costs. Consequently, the cost of essential food items has also escalated.
On a week-on-week basis, the index decreased by 0.91%, as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The overall SPI displayed a broad-based increase, underscoring persistent pressure on the cost of living. Key contributors to the inflation surge included tomatoes (228.71%), onions (95.36%), wheat flour (78.65%), diesel (37.42%), petrol (23.28%), and beef (13.44%).
Food inflation remained high, with striking increases in prices of onions, tomatoes, potatoes, mutton, beef, and wheat flour. Despite a slight easing, energy costs continue to weigh on household budgets and elevate transport expenses across the economy. The SPI has now risen for the 68th consecutive week, indicating sustained consumer pressure.
The items that experienced the most significant price increases over the previous week were onions (7.62%), diesel (4.17%), eggs (3.16%), petrol (2.46%), wheat flour (2%), potatoes (1.93%), LPG (1.90%), pulse gram (1.44%), vegetable ghee 2kg (0.71%), pulse mash (0.69%), pulse masoor (0.64%), and firewood (0.15%). Conversely, tomatoes (22.96%), chicken (11.20%), electricity charges for Q1 (9.06%), bananas (0.70%), sugar (0.16%), and pulse moong (0.15%) saw price declines on a week-on-week basis.
On an annual basis, tomatoes (228.71%), onions (95.36%), wheat flour (78.65%), LPG (51.76%), diesel (37.42%), petrol (23.28%), gents sponge chappal (16.69%), mutton (16.06%), chillies powder (15.20%), bananas (14.69%), beef (13.44%), and bread plain (9.69%) experienced the most notable price hikes. Conversely, potatoes declined by 30.89%, followed by pulse gram (19.89%), chicken (19.56%), sugar (17.48%), salt powder (14.09%), pulse masoor (12.80%), eggs (8.38%), and pulse moong (7.38%).
The SPI, which comprises 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is computed weekly to assess price changes for essential commodities and services over shorter intervals.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
