Annual inflation increases by 29.65% in Pakistan, driven by rising gas prices 

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) report released on Friday, the weekly inflation, as measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), exhibited a decline of 0.33 per cent during the week ending on October 19. 

The Combined Index, as reported by PBS, stood at 277.11, down from 278.04 on October 19, 2023, with a notable contrast to the index of 213.74 recorded on October 27, 2022, a year ago.

Among the 51 items monitored, the analysis indicates that the average prices of 14 items experienced an increase, 17 items saw a decrease, and 20 items remained stable. 

Significant reductions were observed in the prices of chicken (10.19 per cent), onions (4.4 per cent), rice IRRI-6/9 (3.84 per cent), bananas (3.64 per cent), gur (3.4 per cent), pulse masoor (2.36 per cent), sugar (2.22 per cent), and mustard oil (2.17 per cent). 

Conversely, notable price increases were recorded for tomatoes (20.81 per cent), potatoes (3.33 per cent), eggs (1.63 per cent), salt powdered (0.91 per cent), garlic (0.77 per cent), tea prepared (0.67 per cent), bread plain (0.56 per cent), and mutton (0.28 per cent).

In a year-on-year comparison, the trend reveals an increase of 29.65 per cent in overall inflation, with substantial hikes in gas charges for Q1 (108.38 per cent), cigarettes (94.46 per cent), chilies powder (84.11 per cent), rice basmati broken (78.51 per cent), wheat flour (77.49 per cent), sugar (63.22 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (62.83 per cent), gents sponge chappal (58.05 per cent), gur (57.73 per cent), and salt powdered (54.84 per cent). 

In contrast, price decreases are observed in tomatoes (31.90 per cent), onions (24.88 per cent), pulse gramme (5.82 per cent), mustard oil (4.16 per cent), and vegetable ghee (1 1 kg) (0.92 per cent).