Pakistan’s weekly inflation remains above 42pc

ISLAMABAD: The weekly inflation, measured by Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), witnessed an increase of 0.03 pc to jump to 42.67pc on a year-on-year basis for the week ending on June 1, official data showed.

The short-term inflation rose by an all-time high of 48.35pc for the period that ended on May 4.

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the Combined Index was at 254.13 compared to 254.05 on May 25, 2023, while the index was recorded at 178.12 a year ago, on Jun 02, 2022

Out of the 51 monitored items, the average price of 19 items increased, 14 items decreased whereas 18 items registered no change during the week.

The weekly SPI percentage change by income groups showed a mixed trend with SPI ranging between -0.1% and 0.12%.

On a yearly basis, analysis of SPI change across different income segments showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 40.2% and 43.49%.

Moreover, Pakistan’s annual inflation rose to 37.97 per cent year-on-year in May, the statistics bureau said in a report on Thursday, showing a continued uptick in the highest-ever inflation in the country.

The CPI stood at 36.4pc in April, which the bureau said at the time was the highest in their records.

The month-on-month rise in May was 1.58pc, the bureau said in a press release, adding vegetables, pulses and chicken prices posted the biggest increases.