{
  "id": 2464894,
  "title": "SPI-based inflation up 0.49pc WoW",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/spi-based-inflation-up-0-49pc-wow",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-22T00:58:33.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Recorder",
    "slug": "business-recorder",
    "url": "https://www.brecorder.com/news/40436039/spi-based-inflation-up-049pc-wow"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "ISLAMABAD - The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)-based inflation surged by 0.49 percent on a Week-on-Week basis for the week concluding August 20, largely attributed to elevated prices of onions (+14.17%), petrol (+3.77%), chicken (+3.35%), and garlic (+2%). Additional goods showing price increases were gram pulses (+0.93%), tea (+0.70%), Lipton tea (+0.34%), fresh milk (+0.17%), cooked dal (+0.15%), washing soap (+0.12%), cigarettes (+0.06%), and shirts (+0.01%). Conversely, significant price cuts were observed for eggs (-5.78%), diesel (-5.15%), tomatoes (-4.99%), potatoes (-1.17%), LPG (-1.04%), bananas (-0.91%), gram moong (-0.56%), sugar (-0.24%), gram masoor (-0.14%), and gram mash (-0.14%).\n\nOn a Year-on-Year basis, SPI rose by 9.66%, propelled by sharp price hikes in onions (+132.52%), tomatoes (+93.21%), wheat flour (+62.25%), LPG (+51.69%), diesel (+33.08%), petrol (+27.65%), and electricity for Q1 (+22.72%). Conversely, SPI declined for potatoes (-30.01%), sugar (-19.10%), chicken (-17.68%), eggs (-17.41%), salt powder (-13.96%), gram (+13.02%), masoor (+12.29%), and Gur (+6.01%).\n\nAnalyzing SPI by income groups, households earning up to Rs17,732 experienced a 0.38% increase, with SPI climbing from 348.71 to 350.03 points. For the Rs17,733-22,888 bracket, SPI surged by 0.41%, rising from 349.48 to 350.90 points. Households in the Rs22,889-29,517 range witnessed a 0.40% increase, escalating from 370.70 to 372.18 points. The highest income group (Rs44,175 and above) noted a 0.55% rise, pushing SPI up from 357.31 to 359.26 points.",
  "summary": "ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)-based inflation increased by 0.49 percent Week on Week (WoW) basis for the week ended August 20, mainly driven by higher prices of onions, which hiked by 14.17 percent, petrol by 3.77 percent, chicken by 3.35 percent, and garlic by 2 percent. According to SPI data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) here on Friday, other items that…",
  "key_points": [
    "SPI-based inflation rose 0.49% week-over-week",
    "Onions prices up 14.17% contributed to inflation surge",
    "SPI increased 9.66% year-on-year"
  ],
  "editors_take": "This weekly SPI inflation uptick disproportionately affects higher-income households, who saw a 0.55% rise, more than other income brackets, as prices of items like onions, petrol, and chicken continue to climb.",
  "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."
}