Weekly inflation increases to 27.5%, impacting household expenses

According to official data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) shows that inflation for the week ending on August 17 increased by 27.57 per cent compared to the same period last year. In simpler terms, things are getting more expensive.

Looking at shorter periods, within a week, inflation went up by 0.78 per cent. This means prices are rising quickly and there’s no sign of them slowing down, which is worrying for both economists and consumers.

Comparing some numbers, the overall price index was 275.57 on August 17, up from 273.43 on August 10 this year, and a significant increase from 216.02 on August 18 last year.

Out of the things people buy, 32 items got pricier, 7 got cheaper, and 12 stayed the same. Among the things that became more expensive this week compared to a year ago were things like chillies powder (up 7.58 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (up 7.48 per cent), garlic (up 5.06 per cent), sugar (up 4.02 per cent), gur (up 3.23 per cent), and chicken (up 2.83 per cent). non-food items like diesel (up 7.29 per cent) and petrol (up 6.40 per cent) also got more expensive.

On the flip side, the price of some things dropped. Tomatoes got 13.60 per cent cheaper, cooking oil (5 liters) became 1.65 per cent cheaper, and there were smaller drops in prices for things like vegetable ghee and wheat flour.