Weekly inflation surges to 14-week high amid hike in petrol price

According to data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the weekly inflation, as assessed by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), increased by 2.82 for the week that concluded on February 2. This increase was primarily driven by an increase in fuel prices.

The weekly inflation rate increased from 0.45 percent to 2.8 percent in the previous week. Compared to 221.54 points the previous week and 169.37 points the week ended February 3, 2022, the SPI was measured at 227.79 points.

One item's price decreased, one item's price climbed, and 18 items' prices remained constant out of the 51 items tracked.

The items which recorded a decrease in their average prices on a week-on-week (wow) basis included potatoes the price of which declined by 0.37%, according to the data. The commodities which recorded an increase in their average prices included:

• Garlic (17.07%)
• Pulse gram (7.10%)
• Bananas (4.75%)
• Chicken (4.37%)
• Pulse mash (3.93%)
• Pulse masoor (3.91%)
• Mustard oil (3.47%)
• Eggs (3.42%)
• Pulse moong (2.33%)
• Sugar (2.32%)
• Vegetable ghee 1 kg (2.13%)
• Rice basmati broken (2.12%)
• Non-food items, lpg (17.61%)
• Petrol (16.22%)
• Diesel (15.30%)

The items whose prices increased the most compared to the previous year were:

• Onions (up 556.36pc)
• Chicken (90.9pc)
• Eggs (81.7pc)
• Diesel (81.4pc)
• Petrol (68.8pc)
• Tea (63.9pc)
• Broken basmati rice (63.4pc)
• Rice Irri-6/9 (62.4pc)
• Pulse moong (61.1pc)
• Bananas (57.4pc)
• Gram pulse (53.2pc)
• Bread (48.8pc)
• Wheat flour (48.4pc)
• Powdered salt (48.1pc)
• Maash pulse (46.2pc)
• LPG (43.8pc)
• Mustard oil (42.1pc)
• Washing soap (42pc)