Short-term inflation in Pakistan, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), rose to 5.08% year-on-year, according to the country’s statistics bureau. The increase, driven by higher prices of edible items, marks the third consecutive weekly rise.
As reported by Pak Observer on Sunday, the SPI tracks 51 essential items from 50 markets across 17 cities and is calculated weekly to monitor short-term price changes in key commodities.
For the week ending December 26, the SPI rose by 0.80% compared to the previous week, as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). This follows the last recorded decline of 0.34% for the week ending December 5.
“Among the 51 items monitored, prices increased for 17 items (33.33%), decreased for 10 items (19.61%), and remained unchanged for 24 items (47.06%),” the PBS reported.
Significant price hikes were noted for chicken (22.47%), tomatoes (20.75%), sugar (2.19%), vegetable ghee (1.17%), firewood (0.95%), cooking oil (0.74%), cooked beef and mustard oil (0.69% each), liquefied petroleum gas (0.18%), and washing soap (0.09%).
Meanwhile, decreases were observed in prices of onions (8.13%), potatoes (2.38%), bananas (0.68%), rice (0.50%), and eggs (0.30%).
Pakistan’s annual consumer inflation slowed to 4.9% in November, falling below government projections of 5.8%-6.8%. It is expected to further ease to 5.6%-6.5% in December. Consumer inflation had previously dropped to 7.2% in October, significantly lower than the multi-decade high of nearly 40% recorded in May 2023.
