The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended February 17, 2022, recorded an increase of 0.22 percent due to an increase in the prices of food items and non-food items, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 18.09 percent mainly due to an increase in the rates of tomatoes (322.87 percent), electricity for quarter one (65.79 percent), garlic (60.98 percent), LPG (55.11 percent), mustard oil (48.44 percent), petrol (42.28 percent), cooking oil five liters (41.81 percent), one-kilogram vegetable ghee (39.13 percent), 2.5-kg vegetable ghee (38.97 percent), washing soap (38.40 percent), pulse Masoor (37.19 percent) and diesel (32.26 percent), while major decrease observed in the prices of powdered chilies (36.30 percent), pulse Moong (28.43 percent), chicken (9.77 percent), sugar (5.72 percent), onions (3.84 percent) and potatoes (0.38 percent).

According to the latest data, SPI went up from 169.23 percent during the week ended on February 10, 2022, to 169.61 percent during the week under review.

SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs. 17,732 and Rs. 17,733 to Rs. 22,888 decreased by 0.16 percent and 0.26 percent respectively, while for Rs. 22,889 to Rs. 29,517, Rs. 29,518 to Rs. 44,175 and for above Rs. 44,175, it increased by 0.14 percent, 0.45 percent and 0.29 percent respectively.

During the week, out of 51 items, the prices of 28 items increased (54.90 percent), 11 items decreased (21.57 percent) and 12 items remained stable (23.53 percent), said PBS in its weekly SPI data.

The commodities, which recorded increase in their average prices included garlic (10.53 percent), petrol super (8.12 percent), hi-speed diesel (6.52 percent), tomatoes (4.35 percent), bananas (4.28 percent), chicken (2.89 percent), match box (2.17 percent), cooked daal (1.94 percent), long cloth 57″ Gul Ahmed/al-Karam (1.50 percent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib 2.5-kg tin each (1.08 percent), cooked beef (0.99 percent), vegetable ghee Dalda/Habib or other superior quality one-kg pouch each (0.95 percent), cooking oil Dalda or other similar brand, five liters tin each (0.90 percent), powdered milk Nido 390-gm polybag each (0.79 percent), mustard oil (0.66 percent), shirting (0.56 percent), georgette (0.54 percent), mutton (0.43 percent) pulse gram (0.32 percent), rice Basmati broken (0.23 percent), beef with bone (0.16 percent), firewood whole (0.13 percent), pulse Masoor (0.09 percent), milk fresh (0.08 percent), rice irri-6/9 (0.08 percent), toilet soap (0.07 percent), tea Lipton Yellow Label (0.02 percent) and curd (0.02 percent).

The commodities, which recorded a decrease in their prices during the period under review included chilies powder (5.41 percent), eggs (5.31 percent), electricity charges (5.20 percent), onion (1.39 percent), potatoes (0.89 percent), gur, i.e., jaggery (0.82 percent), sugar (0.59 percent), wheat flour bag 20-kg (0.27 percent), LPG (0.17 percent), pulse Moong (0.11 percent) and pulse Mash (0.08 percent).

The commodities whose prices remained unchanged during the period included plain bread (small size), salt powdered, tea prepared, cigarettes Capstan, lawn printed Gul Ahmed/al-Karam, gents sandal Bata pair, gents sponge chappal Bata pair, ladies sandal Bata pair, gas charges, energy saver Philips, Sufi washing soap and telephone call charges.

Source: Pro Pakistan