ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, based on the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), rose to an unprecedented 46.65 per cent year-on-year for the combined income group for the period ending March 22, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.

However, on a week-on-week basis, the weekly inflation rose sharply by 1.80pc with food items getting costlier, particularly fruits, tomatoes, potatoes and cooking oil.

The SPI is expected to intensify further as the worse impact of inflation in the wake of Ramazan-related demand spiral, rupee devaluation, costly petroleum products, hike in general sales tax and higher electricity and gas tariffs is yet to reflect in official data. The commodity prices are expected to show a rapid increase with rising demand in the coming week.

Earlier, the year-on-year SPI surged to 45.5pc during the week ending Sept 1, 2022, and it stayed above 40pc for the first time since Aug 18 last year when the reading was 42.31pc.

Out of 51 items in the SPI basket, prices of 26 items soared while those of 12 items decreased, however, rates of 13 items remained unchanged.

During the week under review, the items whose prices increased the most over the same week a year ago were onions (228.28pc), cigarettes (165.88pc), wheat flour (120.66pc), gas charges for Q1 (108.38pc), diesel (102.84pc), tea Lipton (94.60pc), bananas (89.84pc), rice Irri-6/9 (81.51pc), rice basmati broken (81.22pc), petrol (81.17pc), eggs (79.56pc), pulse moong (68.64pc), potatoes (57.21pc) and pulse mash (56.46pc).

On a week-on-week basis, the biggest change was observed in the prices of tomatoes (71.77pc), wheat flour (42.32pc), potatoes (11.47pc), bananas (11.07pc), tea Lipton (7.34pc), pulse mash (1.57pc), tea prepared (1.32pc), gur (1.03pc), georgette (2.11pc), Lawn (1.77pc) and long cloth (1.58pc).

Products whose prices saw the highest decline over the previous week were chicken (8.14pc), chillies powdered (2.31pc), LPG (1.31pc), mustard oil & garlic (1.19pc) each, pulse gram & onions (1.06pc) each, vegetable ghee 1 Kg (0.83pc), cooking oil 5 litre (0.21pc), pulse moong (0.17pc), pulse masoor (0.15pc) and eggs (0.03pc).

The government has been taking strict measures — hikes in fuel and power tariffs, withdrawal of subsidies, market-based exchange rate and higher taxation — under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme to generate revenue for bridging the fiscal deficit, which may result in slow economic growth and higher inflation in coming months.

The increase in the SBP policy rate to 20pc, sales tax from 17pc to 18pc on most items and 25pc on more than 800 imported food and non-food items will further increase retail prices of consumer goods.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2023

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Military convictions
Updated 22 Dec, 2024

Military convictions

Pakistan’s democracy, still finding its feet, cannot afford such compromises on core democratic values.
Need for talks
22 Dec, 2024

Need for talks

FOR a long time now, the country has been in the grip of relentless political uncertainty, featuring the...
Vulnerable vaccinators
22 Dec, 2024

Vulnerable vaccinators

THE campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan cannot succeed unless the safety of vaccinators and security personnel...
Strange claim
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

In all likelihood, Pakistan and US will continue to be ‘frenemies'.
Media strangulation
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

Administration must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as an enabler or an executioner of press freedom.
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...