Inflation increases to 3.4pc in August

ISLAMABAD: Consumer Price Index (CPI) on year-on-year basis during August 2017 witnessed an increase of 3.4 per cent as compared to the same month of previous year.

On month-on-month basis, the inflation was recorded at 0.19 per cent in August 2017 as compared to July 2017, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) during the month increased by 1.0 percent while the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) witnessed negative growth of 0.1 percent.

It is pertinent to mention that PBS collects the retail and the wholesale prices and computes the CPI and WPI on monthly basis while the SPI is calculated on weekly basis.

The CPI for food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 2.25 per cent as compared to the same month of last year.

Similarly, the CPI for non-perishable food items increased to 1.71 per cent, clothing and footwear 3.93 per cent, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels 5.3 per cent, furnishing and household equipment maintenance 2.58 per cent, health 12.47 percent while the CPI for transport increased by 2.65 percent.

In addition, the CPI for communication increased by 1.63 per cent, recreation and culture by 0.29 percent, education by 10.85 percent, restaurant and hotel 4.77 percent while the miscellaneous goods and service increased by 4.67 percent.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the top items which witnessed increase in prices in August 2017 compared to August 2016 included onion (44.08%), chicken (14.15%), rice (13.95%), fresh fruits (13.65%), tea (13.14%), meat (7.65%), honey (6.25%), ready made food (4.77%), vegetable ghee (4.42%), drugs and medicines (18.53%), tailoring (8.58%), doctor clinic fee (7.87%), house rent (7.19%), cleaning and laundry (7.13%), medical equipments (6.59 %), and motor fuel (6.41%).

The items that witnessed decrease in prices during the month of August 2017 included pulse mash (27.13%), pulse gram (19.87%), tomatoes (19.85%), pulse masoor (18.38%), pulse moong (18.21%), cigarettes (16.4%), sugar (15.56%), gram flour (14.81%), and motor vehicle accessories (1.09%).