Short-term inflation surges to 11.38pc due to costly food

Islamabad - The short-term inflation in Pakistan surged to 11.38% year-on-year in the week ending October 15, primarily due to rising food prices, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday. Out of the 51 essential items monitored during this period, 23 (45.10%) experienced price increases, while seven (13.72%) saw a decrease, and 21 (41.18%) remained stable compared to the previous week.

Rising petroleum prices remain the main driver behind this trend, with the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) for short-term inflation dipping by 0.04% week-on-week, indicating fluctuating prices in both food and non-food sectors. Despite the government's reluctance to reduce petroleum levy, the continuous increase in petrol and diesel prices is exacerbating inflationary pressures and indirectly boosting sales tax revenue from heightened prices of goods and services.

This phenomenon represents cost-push inflation, where escalating energy costs trigger price hikes in food items, placing additional strain on households due to higher consumer prices. The data, collected from 50 markets across 17 cities on a weekly basis, tracks changes in the prices of essential commodities and services. Among the items with the most significant price increases over the previous week were pulse gram (4.97%), wheat flour (3.36%), chicken (3.31%), eggs (0.99%), pulse mash (0.98%), pulse masoor (0.95%), firewood (0.69%), shirting (0.58%), cooked daal (0.55%), diesel (0.47%), LPG (0.42%), and tea (0.28%).

Conversely, tomatoes (23.05%), onions (4.90%), bananas (2.59%), petrol (0.70%), rice basmati broken (0.65%), sugar (0.62%), and gur (0.36%) experienced notable price declines. On an annual basis, onions (75.19%), LPG (68.95%), Q1 electricity (58.59%), petrol (49.60%), diesel (43.98%), wheat flour (35.13%), chicken (20.77%), chili powder (15.55%), mutton (14.90%), beef (12.27%), plain bread (9.02%), and tea (8.36%) recorded the highest price hikes.

Conversely, tomatoes (63.65%), potatoes (39.93%), sugar (23.20%), eggs (19.83%), salt powder (14.86%), pulse masoor (8.97%), gur (8.92%), and pulse moong (7.83%) experienced the most significant price reductions.