The weekly inflation, measured by Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), in Pakistan witnessed an increase of 2.89% for the combined consumption group during the previous week, WealthPK reports. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the SPI for the week ending on February 16 was recorded at 234.77 points compared to 228.17 points during the preceding week.

As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 38.42%. The weekly SPI with the base year 2015-16 is covering 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups. The SPI for the lowest consumption group, up to Rs17,732, witnessed a 2.45% decrease and went up to 239.34 points from the preceding week’s 233.61 points.

Meanwhile, the SPI for the consumption group from above Rs44,175 witnessed an increase of 2.94%. The items, which recorded a decrease in their average prices on a week-on-week basis, included tomatoes, onions, eggs, garlic and wheat flour. The items, which recorded an increase in their average prices, included cooking oil at 8.65%, vegetable ghee at 8.02%, bananas at 8.01%, chicken at 7.49%, petrol at 8.82% and diesel at 6.49%, while the prices of cigarettes recorded an increase of 6.18%.

On a year-on-year basis, the commodities that recorded a decrease in their average prices included tomatoes at 65.30%, electricity at 7.50% and powdered chilies powdered at 7.42%. The commodities that witnessed an increase in prices on a year-on-year basis included onions at 433.44%, chicken at 101.86%, diesel at 81.36%, eggs at 81.22%, rice Irri-6/9 at 74.12%, broken Basmati rice at 73.05%, petrol at 69.87%, pulse Moong at 67.98%, bananas at 67.68%, tea packet at 63.89%, pulse gram at 56.93%, bread at 55.36%, pulse Mash at 53.42%, LPG at 52.68% and cigarettes at 50.02%, according to the data available with WealthPK.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk