ISLAMABAD: A decline in the prices of essential vegetables eased inflationary pressure as inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), recorded a downward trend, falling by 0.09 percent during the week ending December 25.
According to figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), a significant decrease was observed in the prices of potatoes (10.37 percent), tomatoes (9.64 percent), onions (7.43 percent), sugar (4.22 percent), pulse gram (1.76 percent), LPG (0.78 percent), pulse masoor (0.74 percent), gur (0.49 percent), and Basmati broken rice (0.17 percent).
On the other hand, notable increases were recorded in the prices of chilli powder (6.26 percent), chicken (5.29 percent), bananas (2.46 percent), electricity charges for Q1 consumers (1.67 percent), garlic (1.50 percent), eggs (0.58 percent), vegetable ghee (2.5 kg) (0.56 percent), pulse moong (0.48 percent), and mutton (0.22 percent).
Weekly SPI inflation up 0.24pc
During the week, out of 51 monitored items, prices of 13 items (25.49 percent) increased, 11 items (21.57 percent) decreased, while 27 items (52.94 percent) remained unchanged.
On a year-on-year basis, SPI showed an increase of 2.83 percent. Major increases were observed in gas charges for Q1 consumers (29.85 percent), wheat flour (22.56 percent), sugar (16.32 percent), beef (13.01 percent), gur (12.46 percent), bananas (11.24 percent), firewood (11.02 percent), chilli powder (10.31 percent), eggs (9.71 percent), powdered milk (9.51 percent), printed lawn (8.29 percent), and shirting (8.07 percent).
Conversely, a sharp decline was recorded in the prices of tomatoes (74.92 percent), potatoes (49.79 percent), garlic (38.17 percent), pulse gram (29.66 percent), onions (29.23 percent), Lipton tea (17.79 percent), pulse mash (13.14 percent), electricity charges for Q1 consumers (6.87 percent), pulse masoor (6.62 percent), and LPG (1.11 percent).
The SPI for the lowest income group (up to Rs 17,732) declined by 0.33 percent, falling to 326.00 points from 327.07 in the previous week.
For the income group Rs 17,733–22,888, the index decreased by 0.17 percent to 326.52 points, while the Rs 22,889–29,518 group saw a 0.19 percent decline to 348.43 points.
Similarly, the SPI for the Rs 29,518–44,175 income group fell by 0.16 percent to 335.56 points, compared to 336.09 points in the previous week. The SPI for the Rs 44,175 and above income group recorded a marginal decline of 0.07 percent, settling at 334.83 points against 335.05 points, the previous week.
Overall, the combined expenditure groups’ SPI decreased by 0.09 percent, reaching 336.22 points, down from 336.53 points in the preceding week.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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