Eggs and tomatoes lead weekly price hikes in latest SPI inflation report 

The latest data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reveals that, for the week ending on October 12, the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) reflected a notable weekly inflation uptick of 0.30 per cent.

During this period, the SPI for this particular category surged to 282.86 points, marking a distinct rise from the preceding week’s 282.00 points.  

Among the 51 items tracked, the price dynamics exhibited a balanced distribution, with 17 items experiencing upward price movements, 17 witnessing price declines, and 17 remaining stable throughout the week. 

Some of the commodities that observed a decline in prices encompassed sugar (4.47 per cent), pulse gramme (2.75 per cent), bananas (2.47 per cent), pulse moong (2.44 per cent), gur (1.93 per cent), chicken (1.69 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (1.46 per cent), and pulse masoor (1.26 per cent). 

Conversely, there was a noticeable surge in the prices of several items during the same week, including tomatoes (6.28 per cent), eggs (3.48 per cent), salt powdered (2.75 per cent), cooked beef (1.06 per cent), garlic (1.04 per cent), tea prepared (0.73 per cent), beef (0.39 per cent), potatoes (0.35 per cent), electricity charges for Q1 (8.59 per cent), energy server (0.55 per cent), shirting (0.47 per cent), and LPG (0.31 per cent). 

For a broader perspective, when evaluating these price changes on a year-on-year basis, it becomes evident that certain commodities have shown significant variations.  

For instance, tomatoes witnessed a substantial year-on-year decline of 43.53 per cent, while onions experienced a decrease of 16.67 per cent.  

Furthermore, pulse gramme recorded a drop of 4.01 per cent, and mustard oil saw a more modest decline of 1.19 per cent. These statistics provide valuable insights into the evolving economic landscape and the relative stability of various consumer goods.