Short-term inflation rises to 11.97pc, PBS data shows

Islamabad saw short-term inflation surge to 11.97% year-on-year in the week ending October 8, 2022, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) increased by 0.57% week-on-week, reflecting price changes in both food and non-food items. Among the 51 essential items tracked, 20 (39.22%) saw price hikes, six (11.76%) declined, and 25 (49.02%) stayed the same from the previous week.

Persistent increases in petroleum prices have contributed to the double-digit inflation, with the government unwilling to ease the petroleum levy and continuously raising petrol and diesel prices daily. This cost-push inflation, driven by higher energy costs, has led to rising food prices, pressuring households with higher consumer prices.

The items with the steepest price increases over the week were wheat flour (5.69%), chicken (4.93%), pulse gram (3.99%), petrol and tomatoes (2.40% each), pulse masoor (1.29%), prepared tea (1.08%), cooked daal (0.98%), pulse mash (0.91%), and LPG (0.57%). Conversely, bananas (2.81%), diesel (1.37%), potatoes (0.89%), sugar (0.37%), gur (0.19%), and pulse moong (0.03%) saw price declines.

On an annual basis, onions (100.24%), LPG (68.55%), electricity for Q1 (58.59%), petrol (47.52%), diesel (42.52%), wheat flour (32.60%), chilli powder (15.55%), mutton (15.02%), beef (12.60%), chicken (9.44%), plain bread (8.99%), and curd (8.08%) experienced the most significant price increases. On the other hand, potato prices dropped by 39.51%, followed by tomatoes (37.07%), sugar (22.44%), eggs (18.88%), powdered salt (14.81%), pulse masoor (9.79%), gur (8.59%), and pulse moong (8.37%).

The SPI, based on 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is tracked weekly to monitor changes in the prices of essential commodities and services.