Inflation: Sensitive price index rises 16%

Prices of 22 items increased last week.

ISLAMABAD:

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended on June 2 for the combined income group recorded an increase of 15.65 per cent as compared to the corresponding week of last year.

SPI for the lowest income group up to Rs3,000 registered an increase of 0.28 per cent over the previous week and stood at 299.71 points against 298.88 points earlier, according to provisional figures released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS).

The weekly SPI covers 17 urban centres and 53 essential items for all income groups and combined.

SPI for the combined income group also registered an increase of 0.39 per cent as it went up from 287.34 points in the previous week to 288.46 points in the week under review.

As compared to the previous week, SPI for income groups ranging from Rs3,001-5,000, Rs5,001-12,000 and above Rs12,000 increased by 0.33 per cent, 0.42 per cent and 0.29 per cent respectively.

During the week, average prices of 10 items registered a decrease, while those of 22 items showed an increase while prices of the remaining 21 items stood unchanged.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2011.