ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended March 17, 2022 recorded a decrease of 1.37 percent due to decline in the prices of food items including tomatoes (12.04 percent), chicken (8.39 percent), garlic (2.04 percent), sugar (0.49 percent) and non-food items including electricity charges for Q1 (9.81 percent) and LPG (1.58 percent), says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 15.12 percent mainly due to increase in prices of tomatoes (90.53 percent), LPG (73.18 percent), garlic (65.76 percent), mustard oil (58.57 percent), vegetable ghee 1kg (55.16 percent), cooking oil 5 litres (50.75 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (49.90 percent), washing soap (39.17 percent), masoor (37.23 percent), petrol (33.42 percent), beef (24.84 percent) and diesel (23.75 percent), while major decrease observed in the prices of chillies powder (37.44 percent), pulse moong (29.62 percent), eggs (18.49 percent), sugar (10.92 percent), potatoes (8.76 percent) and electricity charges for Q1 (0.16 percent).
According to the latest data, the SPI went down from 171.41 percent during the week ended March 10, 2022 to 169.06 percent during the week under review. The SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs17,732 and Rs17,733 to Rs22,888, Rs22,889 to Rs29,517 and Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 and for above Rs44,175 decreased by 0.99 percent, 1.61 percent, 1.12 percent, 0.92 percent, and 1.23 percent respectively.
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 29 (56.86 percent) items increased, nine (17.65 percent) items decreased, and 13 (25.49 percent) items remained stable, said the PBS in weekly SPI data.
The commodities, which recorded increase in their average prices included vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib or other superior quality 1kg pouch each (6.25 percent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib 2.5kg tin each (4.56 percent), cooking oil Dalda or other similar brand (sn), 5 litres tin each (3.62 percent), lawn printed Gul Ahmed/Al Karam (3.14 percent), shirting (2.57 percent), onions (2.06 percent), Georgette (two percent), cooked beef (1.98 percent), long cloth 57” Gul Ahmed/Al Karam (1.82 percent), bananas (1.76 percent), match box (1.60 percent), eggs (1.39 percent), mustard oil (1.27 percent), mutton (1.03 percent), moong (0.97 percent), salt powdered (0.92 percent), Sufi washing soap (0.73 percent), masoor (0.58 percent), rice basmati broken (0.54 percent), rice irri-6/9 (0.53 percent), cooked daal(0.49 percent), tea prepared (0.35 percent), wheat flour bag 20kg (0.29 percent), tea Lipton Yellow Label (0.23 percent), beef with bone (0.23 percent), milk fresh (0.22 percent), gur (0.18 percent), curd (0.10 percent), and energy saver (0.06 percent).
The commodities, which recorded decrease in their prices during the period under review, include tomatoes (12.04 percent), electricity charges for Q1 per unit (9.81 percent), chicken (8.39 percent), garlic (2.04 percent), LPG (1.58 percent), sugar (0.49 percent), potatoes (0.41 percent), gram (0.31 percent), and maash (0.14 percent).
The commodities whose prices remained unchanged during the period included rice bread plain, powdered milk, chilies powder, cigarettes Capstan, gents sandal Bata pair, gents sponge chappal Bata pair, ladies sandal Bata pair, gas charges, firewood whole, petrol super, hi-speed diesel, telephone call charges, and toilet soap.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022