ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation benchmark, Sensitive Price Index, is in a positive trajectory as it increased by 0.12 percent for the week ended on October 31, 2025.
A major increase is observed in the prices of onions that went up by 59.54 percent, eggs by 3.24 percent, chicken by 2.40 percent, garlic by 1.72 percent, firewood by 0.93 percent, cooking oil 5 litres by 0.64 percent, vegetable ghee 2.5 kg by 0.40 percent, wheat flour by 0.36 percent, and powdered milk by 0.22 percent.
On the other hand, major decrease is observed in the prices of tomatoes, which were down by 47.02 percent, pulse gram by 1.66 percent, pulse masoor by 1.20 percent, pulse moong by 0.65 percent, LPG by 0.60 percent, gur by 0.56 percent, potatoes by 0.23 percent, pulse mash by 0.14 percent and the prices of rice IRRI-6/9 lowered by 0.12 percent.
During the week, of the 51 items, the prices of 14 (27.45 percent) items increased, 10 (19.61 percent) items decreased, and the prices of 27 (52.94 percent) items remained stable.
The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 5.05 percent. Major increase is observed in the prices of ladies sandal, which were up by 55.62 percent, sugar by 42.44 percent, tomatoes by 31.56 percent, gas charges for Q1 by 29.85 percent, onions by 19.98 percent, wheat flour by 19.23 percent, gur by 18.41 percent, beef by 13.42 percent, firewood by 12.51 percent, vegetable ghee 2.5 kg by 12.34 percent, and vegetable ghee 1 kg by 11.41 percent.
On the other hand, a decrease is observed in the prices of garlic which came down by 30.74 percent, pulse gram by 29.12 percent, electricity charges for Q1 by 26.26 percent, potatoes by 20.07 percent, tea Lipton by 17.93 percent, pulse mash by 15.87 percent, chicken by 15.63 percent, LPG by 5.93 percent, pulse masoor by 4.68 percent, and rice IRRI-6/9 by 3.36 percent.
For households spending up to Rs17,732 per month, the SPI increased by 0.28 percent, rising to 331.18 from 330.27 points.
For the Rs17,732-22,888 bracket, the SPI rose by 0.16 percent to 328.25, up from 327.72 points of the previous week. Those in the Rs22,889-29,517 expenditure group saw a 0.15 percent increase to 350.55 from 350.04 points. The Rs29,518 to 44,175 bracket registered a 0.14 percent rise, with the SPI at 337.23 compared to 336.76 points previously.
For households with monthly expenditures above Rs 44,175, the SPI recorded a 0.08 percent increase to 333.04 from 332.76 points. Whereas the combined expenditure SPI increased by 0.12 percent to 335.53 points compared to 335.14 points of the previous week.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025