The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the combined group increased by 0.81 percent during the week ended Feb 11, 2021 while the SPI increased by 9.17 percent compared to the corresponding period of the last year.
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday, the Combined Index was at 142.85 compared to 141.7 on February 04, 2021 while the index was recorded at 130.85 a year ago, on February 13, 2020
Out of the 51 monitored items, the average price of 24 items increased, 6 items decreased whereas 21 items registered no change during the week. The weekly SPI percentage change by income groups showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 0.7 percent and 0.94 percent.
The lowest income group witnessed a weekly increase of 0.77 percent while the highest income group recorded an increase of 0.7 percent.
On an yearly basis, analysis of SPI change across different income segments showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 8.31 percent and 10.26 percent.
Yearly SPI for the lowest income group increased by 10.14 percent while the highest income group recorded an increase of 8.31 percent.
The recurring surge in the petroleum product prices has reflected harmfully on the essential commodities as inflation statistics expressed an incremental rise attributable to the costs of transportation.
The surge in many essential commodities was noticed during the past week. Prices of poultry meat, eggs, sugar, and wheat, among other things, recorded appreciable rise as per the released PBS statistics.
Poultry meat, one of the most essential food items reflected valuable on inflation basket, went up Rs17 per kilogram, while a dozen eggs are now Rs6 costlier. The price of sugar also surged Rs3/kilogram. The PBS also recorded prices of cooking oil, condiments, ghee, toiletries, and the power utility to have gone up considerably as well. The cost of 2.5kg tin pack of ghee went up Rs10, according to the weekly price monitor report while rice, lentils, powdered milk also rose.
On the other hand, the commodities to have diminished in terms of their costs were tomatoes with Rs7 slash, and potatoes noting Re1 per kilogram cut. The domestic cylinder of LPG gas noted slight drop, and 21 items remain stable in terms of their prices, PBS said.
The average price of Sona urea stood at Rs1,740 per 50-kg bag which is 0.23 percent higher than last week’s price and 3.92 percent lower when compared to last year. Meanwhile, average cement price was recorded at Rs606 per 50-kg bag, which is 0.5 percent higher than the previous week and 12.22 percent higher than prices last year.
