Pakistan’s weekly inflation stands at 21.22pc

ISLAMABAD: The weekly inflation rate measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) decreased by 1.06 percent for the combined consumption groups during the week ended on May 16, ARY News reported.

According to a report issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), as compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 21.22 percent.

The weekly SPI with the base year 2015-16 =100 covers 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.

The SPI for the lowest consumption group of up to Rs 17,732, decreased by 1.17 percent and went down to 299.70 points from the last week’s 303.24 points.

The PBS report read that during the week, beef price increased by Rs 10.31 per kilogram (kg), mutton saw a hike of Rs 19.03 per kg, while chicken witnessed a nominal hike of Rs 1 per kg.

As per the report, 16 essential commodities’ prices have been decreased during the week as tomatoes’ prices slashed by Rs 26.82 per kg, onion by Rs 27.67 per kg and garlic by Rs 46.44 per kg.

A 20-kg bag of wheat flour witnessed a decrease of Rs 72.54 and pulse gram down by Rs 2.59 per kg. The PBS report also read that the prices of 15 essential items remained stable during the week.

Earlier on May 10, it was reported that the weekly inflation witnessed a decrease of 1.39 per cent for the combined consumption groups during the week ended on May 9.

According to the PBS data, the SPI for the week under review in the above-mentioned group was recorded at 312.56 points as compared to 316.95 points during the past week.

As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 22.32 per cent.