Inflation witnesses slight ease in the beginning of April

ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended on April 3 for the lowest income group up to Rs 8,000 registered a increase of 0.09 per cent as compared to the previous week, ARY News reported.

The SPI for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 204.91 points against 204.72 points registered in the previous week, according to data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The weekly SPI has been computed with base 2007-2008=100, covering 17 urban centers and 53 essential items for all income groups and combined.

The SPI for the combined group decreased by 0.03 per cent as it went down from 212.78 points in the previous week to 212.72 points in the week under review.

As compared to the last week, the SPI for the income groups from Rs.8001-12,000, Rs.12,001-18,000 and above Rs.35,000 increased by 0.09 per cent, 0.04 per cent, 0.37 per cent and 0.17 percent respectively while the income group Rs.18001-35,000 remained stable.

During the week under review average prices of 14 items registered decrease, while that of 15 items increase with the remaining 24 items' prices unchanged.

According to the data disclosed by PBS, the items which prices rose during the week included: onions (4.10 per cent), potatoes (3.95 per cent), milk fresh (2.11 per cent), chicken (1.71 per cent), moong pulse washed (1.02 per cent), curd (0.72 per cent), salt powder (0.63 per cent), red chillies loose (0.52 per cent), gur (0.37 per cent), mash pulse washed (0.28 per cent), wheat (0.26 per cent), bananas (0.10 per cent) and mutton (0.04 per cent).