{
  "id": 15073427,
  "title": "Weekly SPI inflation down 0.04pc",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/weekly-spi-inflation-down-0-04pc",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-16T23:52:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Recorder",
    "slug": "business-recorder",
    "url": "https://www.brecorder.com/news/40444640/weekly-spi-inflation-down-004pc"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On October 16, 2026, the Sensitive Price Index-based inflation (SPI) for the week declined by a slight 0.04 percent, attributed to a 23.05 percent drop in tomato prices, a 4.90 percent decrease in onion prices, and a 2.59 percent reduction in banana prices. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released the SPI data on Friday, revealing that other commodities also experienced a reduction, including petrol (-0.70 percent), basmati rice (-0.65 percent), sugar (-0.62 percent), and gur (-0.36 percent). Conversely, pulse gram increased by 4.97 percent, wheat flour by 3.36 percent, chicken by 3.31 percent, eggs by 0.99 percent, pulse mash by 0.98 percent, pulse masoor by 0.95 percent, firewood by 0.69 percent, shirting by 0.58 percent, cooked daal by 0.55 percent, diesel by 0.47 percent, LPG by 0.42 percent, and prepared tea by 0.28 percent.\n\nOut of the 51 items in the SPI basket, 23 items (45.10 percent) saw price increases, 7 items (13.72 percent) decreased, and 21 items (41.18 percent) remained unchanged. The year-on-year (YoY) trend showed an overall increase of 11.38 percent, driven primarily by a 75.19 percent surge in onion prices, a 68.95 percent rise in LPG, a 58.59 percent increase in electricity costs for Q1, a 49.60 percent jump in petrol, a 43.98 percent surge in diesel, a 35.13 percent increase in wheat flour, a 15.55 percent rise in chili powder, a 14.90 percent escalation in mutton, a 12.27 percent hike in beef, a 20.77 percent increase in chicken, a 9.02 percent rise in plain bread, and an 8.38 percent increase in prepared tea.\n\nExamining SPI by income groups, households with monthly incomes of up to Rs17,732 experienced a 0.06 percent increase, with SPI dropping from 356.56 to 56.35 points. For the Rs17,733-22,888 income group, SPI decreased by 0.04 percent, falling from 360.08 to 359.94 points. The SPI for households earning Rs22,889-29,517 increased by 0.01 percent, dropping from 380.67 to 380.62 points, while the Rs29,518-44,175 bracket saw a 0.02 percent reduction, falling from 368.09 to 368.03 points. The highest income group (Rs44,175 and above) recorded a 0.08 percent decrease, taking SPI down from 372.43 to 372.22 points. The combined SPI dropped from 372.58 to 372.43 points, marking an overall increase of 0.04 percent.",
  "summary": "ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Index-based inflation for the week ended on October 16, 2026 recorded a slight reduction of 0.04 percent owing to a reduction in the prices of tomatoes that fell by 23.05percent, onions by 4.90percent, and bananas by 2.59percent. The SPI data released here on Friday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistic (PBS) showed that the prices of other items which witnessed a…",
  "key_points": [
    "SPI inflation down 0.04pc in week ending October 16, 2026",
    "Tomato, onion, and banana prices fell significantly",
    "23 items increased while 21 remained unchanged in SPI basket"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Falling vegetable and fuel costs are providing a slight reprieve from rising prices, though significant year-on-year increases in staples and energy continue to pressure household budgets across all income levels.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "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."
}