LAHORE: During the week ending March 20, Pakistan experienced a 0.35% decrease in the weekly inflation measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the combined consumption groups.
The SPI decreased to 319.62 points from the prior week‘s SPI of 320.75 points. SPI in the same week last year was 1.20% lower than this year‘s SPI. The weekly SPI measures 51 essential items in 17 urban centers for all consumption and expenditure groups.
The lowest consumption group, or those with an income up to Rs 17,732, experienced a decrease of 0.39% in SPI resulting in an SPI of 308.43, down from the previous week‘s SPI of 309.65.
The SPI for other consumption groups in the urban centers experienced a decrease in the weekly SPI measurement ranging from 0.35% to 0.40%. Regarding the 51 total items priced, 11 experienced a price increase, 18 experienced a price decrease, and 22 items remained unchanged the previous week.
Items that decreased in price significantly last week included tomatoes (7.08%), onions (6.07%), garlic (5.59%), eggs (4.64%), and potatoes (2.50%).
The items that saw an increased price week over week included lawn printed (2.90%), LPG (1.53%), bananas (1.45%), and long cloth (1.23%). Year–over-year, the following commodities decreased in price: onions (67.67%), wheat flour (35.58%), tomatoes (29.45%), and chilies powder (20.00%).
The following commodities experienced upward price changes year over year: ladies’ sandals (75.09%), pulse moong (26.96%), powdered milk (25.75%), and beef (21.01%).