ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended August 6, 2020, recorded a decrease of 0.06 percent over the last week, mainly due to fall in prices of tomatoes (33.09 percent), chicken (9.67 percent), moong (0.88 percent), wheat flour (0.76 percent), eggs (0.11 percent), gur (0.05 percent), and rice (0.04 percent).
According to the latest data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the SPI went down from 134.31 points during the week ended July 29, 2020, to 134.23 points, in the week under review.
The year-on-year (YoY) trend depicts an increase of 8.47 percent with most of the items increased mainly chillies powder (86.67 percent), potatoes (74.13 percent), moong (37.92 percent), eggs (35.05 percent), maash (33.98 percent), sugar (23.51 percent), masoor (21.21 percent), vegetable ghee 1kg (19.81 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (19.27 percent), wheat flour (18.60 percent), bread (18.53 percent), Sufi washing soap (17.43 percent), and long cloth Gul Ahmed (17.35 percent), while a major decrease was observed in the price of onions (37.90 percent), diesel (19.49 percent), chicken (14.80 percent), garlic (12.16 percent), petrol (11.76 percent), and electricity for Q1 (0.80 percent).
The weekly SPI covers 17 urban centers and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 15 (29.41 percent) items increased, 16 (31.37 percent) items decreased, and 20 (39.21 percent) items remained constant, according to provisional figures released by the PBS.
The SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs17,733, from Rs17,733 to Rs22,888, Rs22,889 to Rs29,517 and Rs29518 to Rs44,175 decreased by 0.33 percent, 0.32 percent, 0.23 percent and 0.14 percent respectively, and above Rs44,175 per month increased by 0.07 percent.
The commodities, which recorded decrease in their average price include tomatoes (33.09 percent), cooking oil 5 litre tin (0.28), firewood (0.24 percent), chicken (9.67 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg tin (0.27 percent), cigarettes (0.02 percent), bananas (5.23 percent), maash (0.19 percent), moong (0.88 percent), gram (0.13 percent), wheat flour bag (0.76 percent), eggs (0.11 percent), masoor (0.64 percent), gur (0.05 percent), and vegetable ghee 1kg (0.57 percent).
The commodities, which recorded increase in their average price, include potatoes (3.49 percent), bread plain (2.77 percent), diesel (5.01 percent), onions (3.18 percent), chilies powder (1.16 percent), petrol (3.93 percent), and shirting (1.96 percent).
Prices of the commodities that observed no change during the week under review include beef with bone (average quality), mutton (average quality), powdered milk, salt powdered, tea Lipton Yellow Label, cooked beef, cooked daal, tea prepared ordinary, long cloth 57" Gul Ahmed/Al Karam, lawn printed Gul Ahmed/Al Karam, gents sandal, gents sponge Chappal, ladies sandal, electricity charges, gas charges, energy saver Philips, match box, telephone call charges, and toilet soap.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020