Short-term inflation surges on costly food, energy

Islamabad was hit by a sharp 11.92 percent year-on-year increase in short-term inflation for the week ending September 24, primarily driven by soaring food prices, according to official figures released on Friday. A week later, the SPI climbed by 0.99 percent, as reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Persistent hikes in petroleum prices have fueled double-digit inflation over the last few weeks.

In a bid to keep raising petrol and diesel prices daily, the government has maintained the petroleum development levy (PDL), excluding minor downward adjustments.

The energy price surge indirectly boosted sales tax collection. Simultaneously, a steep rise in transportation costs has also impacted food item prices, including onions, tomatoes, and other vegetables. The SPI has now registered its 74th consecutive weekly rise. The items that saw the steepest price increases over the previous week were electricity for Q1 (18.76 percent), eggs (2.02 percent), garlic (1.57 percent), LPG (1.55 percent), pulse masoor (0.75 percent), chicken (0.72 percent), washing soap (0.59 percent), pulse gram (0.34 percent), mutton (0.31 percent), beef (0.30 percent), curd (0.27 percent), milk fresh (0.14 percent), and wheat flour (0.11 percent).

Conversely, prices dropped for tomatoes (13.45 percent), potatoes (8.33 percent), bananas (5.66 percent), onions (2.42 percent), diesel (1.57 percent), powdered salt (0.90 percent), petrol (0.34 percent), sugar (0.23 percent), mustard oil (0.04 percent), and gur (0.01 percent).

On an annual basis, onions experienced the sharpest price rise at 115.98 percent, followed by LPG (63.97 percent), electricity for Q1 (58.59 percent), diesel (51.80 percent), petrol (47.49 percent), wheat flour (32.41 percent), gents sponge chappal (16.69 percent), chilli powder (16.37 percent), mutton (15.75 percent), beef (13.22 percent), firewood (10.72 percent), plain bread (8.96 percent), shirting (8.38 percent), washing soap (8.36 percent), and milk fresh (8.10 percent).

In contrast, potatoes dropped by 39.21 percent, followed by sugar (21.14 percent), tomatoes (19.81 percent), eggs (18.40 percent), powdered salt (14.73 percent), pulse gram (11.65 percent), pulse masoor (10.47 percent), pulse moong (7.89 percent), gur (7.30 percent), IRRI-6/9 rice (3.28 percent), garlic (3.03 percent), chicken (2.51 percent), and basmati broken rice (0.33 percent).

The index, based on 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is updated weekly to monitor price changes of essential commodities and services over shorter periods.