ISLAMABAD: Inflation on the basis of the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) during the week ending July 30 saw a fall of 0.91 percent from the previous week. This figure, based on SPI data, has been published on Friday. The decrease in SPI inflation has primarily come about due to the falling price levels in tomatoes (down 22.96 percent), chicken (down 11.20 percent), and electricity for the first quarter (down 9.06 percent).

In addition to these significant decreases, some other components in the SPI basket also witnessed modest price cuts for the week. The price of bananas decreased by 0.70%, the price of sugar fell by 0.16%, and the price of pulse moong fell by 0.15%.

Although there was a general weekly decrease, there was an increase for some goods. The largest increase was in onions with a 7.62% rise. Diesel showed an increase of 4.17%, eggs rose by 3.16% and petrol had an increase of 2.46%. There was also an increase in wheat flour of 2%, potatoes went up by 1.93% and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) increased by 1.90%. Pulse gram went up by 1.44%, vegetable ghee (2.5kg) increased by 0.71%, pulse mash by 0.69%, pulse masoor by 0.64% and firewood by 0.15%.

ALSO READ: Karachi Pays Pakistan's Highest Flour Price as 20kg Bag Hits Rs 2,900

In terms of the week, in total 51 items were analyzed, 27 of which, comprising 52.94% of the SPI basket, experienced price increases. At the same time, six items, making up 11.77% of the SPI basket, saw price decreases, whereas 18 items, or 35.29% of the SPI basket, had stable prices. Thus, it is obvious that despite the overall decrease in the weekly SPI-inflation rate, most items increased their prices in terms of the week.

In year-on-year comparison, the SPI witnessed a growth of 9.05 percent, primarily because of a huge hike in several essential goods. The prices of tomatoes increased by 228.71 percent, onion prices were up by 95.36 percent, and wheat flour increased by 78.65 percent. LPG was up by 51.76 percent, diesel increased by 37.42 percent, and petrol saw an increase of 23.28 percent. Some other major year-on-year hikes were observed in gents' sponge chappals (16.69 percent), mutton (16.06 percent), chili powder (15.20 percent), bananas (14.69 percent), beef (13.44 percent), and plain bread (9.69).

Not all products were seen rising during the year. Potatoes experienced a fall of 30.89 percent, followed by pulse gram that registered a drop of 19.89 percent and chicken that witnessed a fall of 19.56 percent. Sugar, powdered salt, pulse masoor, eggs, and pulse moong fell by 17.48 percent, 14.09 percent, 12.80 percent, 8.38 percent, and 7.38 percent respectively.

Weekly SPI-based inflation Impact Across Different Income Groups

A further analysis of SPI by income group shows that low-income families have suffered a relatively higher fall this week. Families having an income up to Rs17,732 witnessed a fall of 1.19 percent, as SPI fell from 349.80 to 345.63 points. The SPI of families having income ranging from Rs17,733-22,888 has fallen by 1.37 percent, which is from 351.58 to 346.77 points.

The Weekly SPI-based inflation for those households earning between Rs22,889-29,517 amounted to 0.97%, which witnessed the SPI dropping from 371.94 to 368.32. For households earning between Rs29,518-44,175, the SPI fell 0.81%, from 358.68 to 355.77. However, the household groups that earn Rs44,175 and above showed the least reduction of 0.68%, with the SPI dropping from 358.89 to 356.44 points. The above trend indicates that lower-middle income families gained from price trends during the week compared to higher income families.