Weekly SPI Inflation Up 0.15pc as Onion Prices Jump Nearly 25pc

ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Index (SPI)-based inflation for the week ending August 13 witnessed an increase of 0.15%, as per data revealed on Friday. According to the report released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the current SPI-based inflation increase is attributed mainly to the rise in onion price (+24.68%), pulse gram price (+3.35%), and chicken price (+2.45%).

There were various other components within the SPI basket whose prices also registered an increase over the past week. Prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) increased by 0.67%, tea Lipton by 0.63%, and mustard oil by 0.45%. Other products included in this category are curd, whose prices increased by 0.34%, pulse masoor, which saw an increase of 0.24%, garlic by 0.22%, and washing soap by 0.11%.

While the SPI-based inflation rate increased on a week-on-week basis, some commodities witnessed significant decreases in their prices. Petrol showed the highest decline of 2.35 percent, tomato witnessed a fall of 1.26 percent, and potato showed a fall of 0.73 percent. Banana, pulse moong, and diesel oil showed falls of 0.36 percent, 0.35 percent, and 0.29 percent respectively. Additionally, there were smaller declines seen in pulse mash (-0.27%), egg (-0.19%), sugar (-0.11%), and gur (-0.10%).

Weekly SPI Inflation Breakdown

Over the week, among the 51 commodities monitored, the prices of 20 commodities or 39.22 percent of the SPI basket witnessed an increase. On the other hand, the prices of 9 commodities or 17.65 percent of the SPI basket experienced a decline, while the prices of 12 commodities or 43.13 percent of the SPI basket were unchanged.

It can be observed that although the bulk of items remained unchanged, the increase was greater than the decrease in value terms.

The State Bank of Pakistan’s weekly Consumer Price Index data showed that the SPI index grew 9.11 percent year-over-year, driven by strong gains across several key categories. The price of tomatoes jumped 143.77 percent, onions increased 125.75 percent, wheat flour grew 77.41 percent, LPG jumped 55.41 percent, diesel surged 34.05 percent, and petrol climbed 23.02 percent. Other significant annual increases included bananas, which rose 17.65 percent; gents sponge chappal, up 16.69 percent; chilies powder, up 16.37 percent; mutton, up 15.98 percent; beef, up 13.42 percent; and bread plain, up 9

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Not all food categories have witnessed an increase in prices over the last 12 months. The price of potatoes decreased by 30 percent year-over-year, followed by sugar (-17.93 percent), chicken (-17.45 percent), pulse gram (-14.39 percent), salt powder (-13.96 percent), pulse masoor (-12.56 percent), eggs (-11.70 percent), and pulse moong (-5.89 percent).

SPI has seen a relatively higher rise among the low-income population segments compared to other segments. Among households whose monthly incomes range between Rs 17,732, the SPI witnessed a surge of 0.46 percent to 348.71 points. Households whose monthly incomes ranged between Rs 17,733-22,888 also recorded a rise of 0.37 percent to 349.48 points.

Consumer price index trends indicate a 0.28 percent gain among those with earnings ranging between Rs 22,889-29,517; rising from 369.65 to 370.70 SPI points. The segment recording earnings between Rs 29,518-44,175 gained 0.22 percent in terms of inflation gains; rising from 356.99 to 357.78 SPI points.

However, households registering earnings above Rs 44,175 have witnessed a much lesser percentage point increase at just 0.04 percent in inflation gains, from 357.16 to 357.31