May 13, 2022 (MLN): The weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the combined consumption group recorded an increase of 0.49% for the week ended on May 12, 2022, mainly due to a sharp increase observed in the prices of essential food items, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported Friday.
The combined index clocked in at 172.63 compared to 171.78 on May 5, 2022, while on yearly basis, the SPI observed a surge of 16.94% when the index was recorded at 149 a year ago, on May 13, 2021.
Out of the 51 monitored items, the average price of 13 items registered an increase in the week including Wheat Flour Bag (41.78%), Chicken (12.13%), Potatoes (7.04%), Eggs (5.08%), Pulse Masoor (4.79%), Onions (4.74%), Pulse Gram (2.29%), Pulse Mash (Washed) (2.05%), Mustard Oil (1.97%), Mutton (1.64%), Tea Prepared (1.16%), Cigarettes (2.62%), and Match Box (1.31%).
Meanwhile, 6 commodities including witnessed a decline in prices on a WoW basis including Tomatoes (-12.01%), Bananas (-5.87%), Sugar (-0.15%), Electricity Charges for Q1 (-10.66%), Firewood Whole (-0.43), and LPG (-0.11%).
The weekly SPI percentage change by income groups showed that SPI declined across all quantiles, ranging between 0.41% and 1.12%.
The lowest income group saw a weekly increase of 0.94% while the highest income group recorded an up of 0.41%.
On a yearly basis, analysis of SPI change across different income segments showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 13.93% and 16.94%.
Yearly SPI for the lowest income group increased by 13.93% while the highest income group recorded an increase of 16.94%.
The average price of sona urea stood at Rs2,152 per 50 kg bag which is around 1.99% higher than last week’s price and 23.81% higher when compared to last year.
Going by the PBS report, the average cement price remained stable at Rs870 per 50 kg bag on weekly basis, while increasing by 42.42% YoY.
