By Moaaz Manzoor

Pakistan’s weekly inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), increased by 0.97% for the week ended March 26, 2026, mainly driven by a sharp rise in the prices of onions, tomatoes, LPG and chicken, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The SPI tracks price movements of 51 essential commodities across 50 markets in 17 cities, providing a short-term snapshot of inflation trends.

The weekly increase was led by onions, which surged 18.10%, followed by tomatoes (11.38%), LPG (10.05%), chicken (8.70%), potatoes (8.11%), electricity charges for Q1 (6.11%), eggs (3.54%), garlic (3.23%), mutton (2.55%) and beef (1.52%). Smaller increases were recorded in georgette (0.38%) and firewood (0.34%).

On the other hand, several essential items posted declines during the week. Bananas recorded the sharpest drop, falling 4.50%, followed by wheat flour (1.00%), sugar (0.29%), gur (0.20%), while pulse moong and rice IRRI-6/9 each declined 0.17%.

During the week under review, out of 51 items in the SPI basket, prices of 23 items (45.10%) increased, 6 items (11.76%) decreased, while 22 items (43.14%) remained unchanged.

On a year-on-year basis, the SPI rose by 8.24% compared to the corresponding week of last year. Major increases were recorded in LPG (34.73%), diesel (29.94%), gas charges for Q1 (29.85%), wheat flour (25.76%), petrol (25.75%) and onions (25.07%). Other notable increases were seen in chili powder (15.20%), beef (13.08%), mutton (12.41%), powdered milk (10.10%), rice basmati broken (6.51%) and gur (6.31%).

Conversely, several commodities were cheaper than a year ago. Potatoes recorded the largest decline, down 45.71%, followed by pulse gram (17.54%), eggs (13.63%), garlic (12.92%), salt powder (12.55%), chicken (11.94%), pulse masoor (11.62%) and sugar (11.34%).

Inflation trends varied across consumption groups. On a weekly basis, SPI increased by 0.97% for Q1, 1.09% for Q2, 0.86% for Q3, 0.79% for Q4 and 0.94% for Q5, with the combined rate at 0.97%. On a year-on-year basis, inflation rose by 7.02% for Q1, 8.76% for Q2, 7.61% for Q3, 7.15% for Q4 and 7.64% for Q5, while the overall combined rate stood at 8.24%.

The latest SPI data indicates renewed pressure on short-term inflation, driven mainly by increases in key food and energy items despite some relief from declines in select commodities.

Credit: INP-WealthPk