Weekly inflation down 0.23% due to decline in rates of food items

ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation for the combined group during the period ended on October 22 recorded a decrease of 0.23 per cent due to a decline in prices of essential food items, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) is calculated on the basis of the prices of 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country.

A report compiled by the PBS said this decrease was witnessed mainly due to a decline in prices of food items, including onions, down 4.75pc; chicken, 1.49pc; wheat flour, 1.31pc; gur, 1.26pc; moong pulse 1.03pc; mash pulse, 0.02pc; with a cumulative impact of minus 0.28 per cent in the overall SPI.

On the other hand, an increase of one percent or more was observed in prices of tomatoes, up 1.57pc, tea prepared 1.43pc, and potatoes 1.00pc.

During the week, rates of 14 essential items went up and those of 11 commodities decreased while prices of 26 food items remained unchanged.