ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended August 13, 2020 recorded a decrease of 0.22 percent over the last week mainly due to a fall in prices of food items including chicken (13.16 percent), tomatoes (5.90 percent), bananas (4.21 percent), moong (1.98 percent), and eggs (1.53 percent).
According to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the SPI went down from 134.23 points during the week ended August 6, 2020 to 133.94 points in the week under review.
The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 7.01 percent with most of the items increased mainly chilli powder (86.67 percent), potatoes (64.02 percent), moong (35.04 percent), mash (31.96 percent), eggs (31.78 percent), sugar (26.36 percent), bread plain (23.13 percent), masoor (21.80 percent), vegetable ghee 1kg (19.25 percent), wheat flour (19.06 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (17.87 percent) and long cloth (17.35 percent), while a major decrease was observed in the price of chicken (37.96 percent), onions (32.64 percent), diesel (19.49 percent), petrol (11.76 percent), garlic (11.68 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, 13 (25.49 percent) items decreased, and 23 (45.09 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, Rs29518 to Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 per month decreased by 0.06 percent, 0.12 percent, 0.15 percent, 0.20 percent, and 0.26 percent respectively.
The commodities, which recorded decrease in their average price include chicken (13.16 percent), tomatoes (5.90 percent), bananas (4.21 percent), mash (0.69 percent), firewood whole (0.90 percent), vegetable ghee 1 kg (0.13 percent) LPG (0.61 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (0.12 percent), moong (1.98 percent), cooking oil 5 litre tin (0.11 percent), eggs (1.53 percent), masoor (0.06 percent), and potatoes (0.79 percent).
The commodities, which recorded increase in their average price include onions (6.41 percent), bread plain (5.13 percent), sugar refined (3.10 percent), mustard oil (1.95 percent), rice basmati broken (1.25 percent), garlic (1.13 percent), gram (0.65 percent), energy saver (0.62 percent), milk fresh (0.61 percent), wheat flour bag 20kg (0.60 percent), curd (0.53 percent), gur (0.51 percent), cooked beef (0.42 percent), cooked daal (0.12 percent), and rice irri (0.04 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, high speed diesel, petrol super, gas charges, match box, telephone call charges, and toilet soap.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020