ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended November 12, 2020 recorded a decrease of 0.07 percent over last week due to a fall in prices of food items, ie, tomatoes (2.75 percent), moong (1.42 percent), gur (1.15 percent), garlic (one percent), and wheat flour (0.47 percent).
According to the latest data, released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the SPI went down from 142.81 points during the week ended November 5, 2020 to 142.71 points during the week under review.
The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 7.68 percent with most of the items increased mainly chilies powder (86.31 percent, potatoes (63.09 percent), eggs (48.27 percent), chicken (46.19 percent), sugar (40.60 percent), maash (23.39 percent), match box (23.20 percent), moong (22.73 percent), Sufi washing soap (20.79 percent), masoor (20.38 percent), gur (17.77 percent), bread (16.66 percent), long cloth (16.42 percent), vegetable ghee 1kg (16.25 percent) and rice Irri 6/9 (15.92 percent), while a major decrease was observed in the price of tomatoes (30.20 percent), garlic (19.19 percent), diesel (18.84 percent), onions (10.38 percent), petrol (10.25 percent), electricity (8.77 percent), and LPG (2.14 percent).
The weekly SPI covers 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 18 (35.29 percent) items increased, 11 (21.57 percent) items decreased, and 22 (43.13 percent) items remained constant, according to the 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 Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 per month decreased by 0.32 percent, 0.33 percent, 0.16 percent, 0.01 percent respectively, and for above Rs44,1751.16 increased by 0.07 percent.
The commodities, which recorded increase in their average price include chicken (10.63 percent), bananas (2.74 percent), match box (1.99 percent), cooked beef (1.09 percent), cooked daal (0.76 percent), sugar (0.56 percent), potatoes (0.54 percent), Georgette (0.44 percent), mustard oil (0.35 percent), maash (0.30 percent), Sufi washing soap (0.27 percent), eggs (0.24 percent), LPG (0.23 percent), vegetable ghee (0.22 percent), curd (0.15 percent), firewood whole (0.06 percent), powdered milk (0.03 percent), and beef (0.02 percent).
The commodities, which recorded decrease in their average price, include electricity charges for Q1 per unit (2.78 percent), tomatoes (2.75 percent), moong (1.42 percent), gur (1.15 percent), garlic (one percent), gram (0.98 percent), onions (0.59 percent), wheat flour (0.47 percent), mutton (0.31 percent), masoor (0.26 percent), and rice irri-6/9 (0.17 percent).
Prices of the commodities that observed no change during the week under review include rice basmati, bread plain, milk fresh, cooking oil, vegetable ghee, vegetable ghee, salt powdered, chilies powder, tea, tea prepared, cigarettes, long cloth 57", shirting, lawn printed, Georgette, gents sandal, gents sponge chappal, ladies sandal, gas charges, energy saver, petrol super, hi-speed diesel, telephone call charges, and toilet soap.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020