ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended on December 31, 2020, recorded a decrease of 0.69 percent over last week due to decrease in the prices of food items, including onions (11.07 percent), potatoes (9.33 percent), chicken (9.10 percent), tomatoes (4.55 percent), garlic (1.44 percent), pulse gram (1.09 percent), and bananas (0.85 percent), according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
However, sugar and wheat flour prices increased during the period under review by 2.36 percent and 0.18 percent, respectively.
According to the latest data, released by the PBS, the SPI went down from 140.89 points during the week ended December 31, 2020, to 139.92 points during the week under review.
The PBS data further stated that the year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 6.13 percent with most of the items increased mainly chilies powder (86.31 percent), eggs (59.06 percent), chicken (25.44 percent), match box (24.40 percent), Sufi washing soap (19.93 percent), mustard oil (16.35 percent), maash (16.10 percent), long cloth (15.65 percent), vegetable ghee 1kg (15.53 percent), rice irri (14.64 percent), shirting (14.63 percent), bread plain (14.47 percent), sugar refined (14.36 percent), and vegetable ghee 2.5kg (14.34 percent); while a major decrease was observed in the price of tomatoes (35.24 percent), onions (32.83 percent), LPG (23.74 percent), diesel (14.72 percent), garlic (13.69 percent), petrol (10.98 percent), gram (6.05 percent), electricity for Q1 (3.34 percent), and potatoes (0.78 percent).
The SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs17,733 and from Rs17,733 to Rs22,888 from Rs22,889 to Rs29,517, Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 per month decreased by 0.80 percent, 0.80 percent, 0.74 percent, 0.74 percent, and 0.63 percent, respectively.
The commodities, which recorded increase in their average price include sugar 2.36 percent, maash (1.14 percent), mustard oil (0.92 percent), vegetable ghee 1kg pouch (0.68 percent), cooking oil 5 litre tin each (0.58 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg tin each (0.52 percent), moong (0.48 percent), tea prepared (0.35 percent), hen eggs (0.31 percent), mutton (0.20 percent), wheat flour bag 20kg (0.18 percent), beef with bone (0.14 percent), firewood whole (0.11 percent), LPG (0.09 percent), and cooked daal (0.03 percent).
The commodities, which recorded decrease in their average price, include onions (11.07 percent), potatoes (9.33 percent), chicken (9.10 percent), tomatoes (4.55 percent), garlic (1.44 percent), gram (1.09 percent), bananas (0.85 percent), masoor (0.18 percent), gur (0.12 percent), and milk fresh (0.06 percent).
According to the PBS, the commodities whose prices remained unchanged during the period under review include rice basmati broken, rice irri-6/9 (Sindh/Punjab), bread plain (small size), curd (dahi), powdered milk, salt powdered, chilies powder, tea Lipton Yellow Label, cooked beef, cigarettes, long cloth 57" Gul Ahmed/Al Karam, shirting, lawn printed Gul Ahmed/Al Karam, Georgette, gents sandal, gents sponge, ladies sandal, electricity charges for Q1, gas charges, energy saver, Sufi washing soap, match box, petrol super, hi-speed diesel, telephone call charges, and toilet soap Lifebuoy.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021