The week ending March 9 saw weekly inflation soar by 1.37% week over week and 42.27% year over year, reaching a 25-week high on an annualized basis as perishables costs start to rise in anticipation of Ramadan.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data released on Friday attributed the rise in the sensitive price indicator (SPI) to increases in the prices of tomatoes (12.43%), potatoes (11.37%), onions (9.26%), sugar (5.48%), bananas (5.31%), cooking oil 5 liter (4.27%), wheat flour (4.06%), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (4.01%), printed lawn (2.00%), curd (1.89%), fresh milk (1.82%), tea (1.79%), shirting (1.45%), broken basmati rice (1.24%) and powdered salt (1.21%).
On the other hand, a major decrease was observed in the prices of :
- Chicken (6.73%)
- Garlic (2.07%)
- Pulse moong (0.83%)
- Eggs (0.77%)
- Pulse masoor (0.50%)
- LPG (0.26%)
- Firewood (0.12%)
- Pulse gram (0.05%)
SPI was recorded at 243.87 points for the week under review, up from 240.57 points the week prior and 171.41 points the week that ended March 10, 2022. On its official Twitter account, the brokerage Arif Habib Ltd noted that this was the greatest weekly YoY number since September 8, 2022.
On September 8, 2022, Pakistan saw a 42.70% YoY increase due to a record-high price for wheat flour following extensive flooding in the rich plains of Punjab and Sindh.”
According to the PBS data, the increase in the prices of bread (55.36%), onions (305.23%), cigarettes (165.86%), gas prices for Q1 (108.38%), diesel (93.82%), eggs (78.63%), rice Irri-6/9 (78.14%), petrol (77.89%), broken basmati rice (77.27%), bananas (74.01%), pulse moong (72.54%), tea (66.31%), and pulse mash (56.02%)
Over the past few years, inflation has increased significantly, making it difficult for Pakistanis, particularly those from lower and moderate-income levels, to make ends meet.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was forced to increase its benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points to a 26-year high as a result of the persistent inflation figures and the stalled International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. Pakistan is frantically pleading with the IMF to provide the crucial $1.1 billion cash. Since January 2022, the central bank has raised interest rates by 10 percentage points as a result of concerns about inflation.
Experts predict that the government’s recent efforts to appease the IMF for a meager $1.1 billion bailout tranche will result in enormous poverty, and businesspeople have not ruled out a default despite fiscal restraint.
For the groups spending up to Rs17,732; Rs17,733-22,888; Rs22,889-29,517; Rs29,518-44,175; and above Rs44,175; YoY SPI increased 39.09, 40.98, 41.79, 42.53, and 44.14% respectively.
