Weekly inflation dips 2.72pc, steepest drop since March deflation spell

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s weekly Sensitive Price Index (SPI) contracted by 2.72 percent from a year earlier for the week ending April 17, the steepest drop since the recent deflationary streak began in March, official data showed Friday.

The continued decline signals a weak demand and persistent pricing pressures in key consumer categories, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The SPI, which measures the cost of essential goods across 17 cities, also showed a negative growth of 0.69 percent over the previous week. Of the 51 monitored items, the prices of 16 rose, 18 declined, and 17 remained unchanged. During one week, prices of tomatoes declined by 22.77 percent, chicken 11 percent, onions 9.8pc, garlic 8.8pc, wheat flour 2.37pc, potatoes 2.18pc, mustard oil 0.95pc, LPG 0.89pc and vegetable ghee 0.68pc and sugar price reduced by 0.29pc.

Some items, however, showed a slight increase in prices. This includes shirting, which became dearer by 3.7pc, lawn printed 1.5pc, lawn cloth and georgette by 1.33pc each. Besides, the price of gram pulse increased by 1.03pc, beef 0.66pc, and mutton price increased by 0.5pc over the previous week.

Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, several essential items have witnessed significant price hikes over the past year. Ladies’ sandals surged by 56 percent, moong pulse by 27 percent, powder milk 25 percent, gram pulse by 21 percent, beef 19 per cent. Likewise, sugar prices increased by 17 percent, vegetable ghee 15.7 percent, firewood 10.5 percent, and shirting and printed lawn increased by 10.3 percent over a year ago.

Some commodities have seen notable reductions over the past year. Onions prices fell by 73.6 percent, tomatoes by 52.7 percent and wheat flour by 30 percent. Garlic price reduced by 29 percent, potatoes 21 percent and chili powder was 19 percent cheaper in the past year. Lipton tea was cheaper by 17 percent, chicken 15 percent, petrol 13 percent, and electricity charges for the lowest consumption slab decreased by 12.7 percent. The diesel price also declined by 10.85 percent over the year.