August 16, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan's short-term inflation decreased by 0.16% during the week ended August 15, 2024, while the annual increase was 16.86%, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday.
The PBS calculates short-term inflation using the sensitive price indicator (SPI) on a weekly basis to assess the price movement of essential commodities at shorter interval of time so as to review the price situation in the country.
SPI comprises of 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country. During the week, out of these items, prices of 19 (37.25%) items increased, 13 (25.50%) items decreased and 19 (37.25%) items remained stable.
Ona weekly basis, a major decrease was observed in the prices of Onions (4.91%), Petrol (3.15%), Diesel (2.44%), Wheat Flour (1.83%), and Pulse Moong (1.81%).
On the other hand, an increase was observed in the prices of Tomatoes (34.77%), Eggs (4.78%), Garlic (1.99%), Beef (0.88%), and and Cooked Beef (0.41%).
The weekly SPI percentage change by income groups showed that SPI increased across 2 quantiles while it decreased across 3 quantiles, ranging between -0.25% and 0.07%.
The lowest income group experienced a weekly rise of 0.07%, while the highest income group experienced a fall of 0.25%.
On a yearly basis, analysis of SPI change across different income segments showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 10.82% and 19.68%.
Yearly SPI for the Lowest Income Group increased by 10.82% while the highest income group recorded an increase of 15.77%.
The average price of Sona urea stood at Rs4,755 per 50 kg bag which is 0.28% lower than last week’s price, while 32.84% higher when compared to last year.
Meanwhile, the average Cement price rose to Rs1,448 per 50 kg bag, which is 0.54% lower than the previous week and 24.77% higher than prices last year.
