{
  "id": 14965520,
  "title": "Short-term inflation surges to 11.38pc due to costly food",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/short-term-inflation-surges-to-11-38pc-due-to-costly-food-14965520",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-16T13:18:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn - Pakistan",
    "slug": "dawn-pakistan",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2037605/short-term-inflation-surges-to-1138pc-due-to-costly-food"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Pakistan's short-term inflation surged to 11.38% year-on-year in the week ending October 15, primarily due to rising food prices, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Out of 51 essentials monitored, 23 (45.10%) experienced price hikes while 7 (13.72%) saw declines, with 21 (41.18%) prices remaining static. Persistent increases in petroleum prices have kept inflation in double digits for several consecutive weeks. The government continues to raise petrol and diesel prices daily, exacerbating the situation. The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) showed a slight decrease of 0.04% week-on-week, indicating price fluctuations in both food and non-food items. The surge in energy costs indirectly boosts sales tax collections through higher prices of goods and services, putting households under pressure. The index, which tracks 51 essential items in 50 markets across 17 cities, is calculated weekly to monitor changes in commodity and service prices. The most significant price increases over the previous week included 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 prepared (0.28%). Conversely, tomatoes (23.05%), onions (4.90%), bananas (2.59%), petrol (0.70%), rice basmati broken (0.65%), and sugar (0.62%) saw the largest price declines. On an annual basis, onions (75.19%), LPG (68.95%), electricity for Q1 (58.59%), petrol (49.60%), diesel (43.98%), wheat flour (35.13%), chicken (20.77%), chilies powder (15.55%), mutton (14.90%), beef (12.27%), bread plain (9.02%), and tea prepared (8.36%) recorded the highest price increases. In contrast, tomatoes fell by 63.65%, followed by 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%).",
  "summary": "ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation rose to 11.38 per cent year-on-year in the week ending October 15, driven largely by higher food prices , according to official data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday. Of the 51 essential items monitored during the week, prices of 23 commodities (45.10pc) increased, while those of seven items (13.72pc) declined, the data showed.…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Dawn Business",
        "title": "Short-term inflation surges to 11.38pc due to costly food",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/short-term-inflation-surges-to-11-38pc-due-to-costly-food",
        "published": "2026-10-16T13:18:16.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}