SPI decreases 0.69%

Drops to lowest level in last two years

KARACHI:

The weekly inflation for the combined income group, measured through the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), declined 0.69% in the week ended December 31, 2020, as compared to the previous week, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed on Friday.

Taking to his official Twitter account, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar announced, “Sensitive Price Indicator falls to 6.13%. This is the lowest level of SPI increase in the last two years.”

Shedding light on reasons behind the decline, he added, “Multiple actions taken by the government have resulted in a sharp slowdown in inflation in the last few months.” The impact of prices on various income groups also showed variations during the week under review.

As compared to the previous week, a decrease of 0.69% was recorded for the combined income group, going down from 140.89 points during the week ended December 24, 2020 to 139.92 points in the week under review. SPI for the combined income group rose 6.13% compared to the corresponding week of previous year.

For the lowest income group, the SPI decreased 0.80% compared to the previous week.

The index for the group stood at 144.68 points against 145.85 points in the previous week, according to provisional figures released by the PBS.

During the week, out of 51 items, average prices of 15 items rose in a selected basket of goods, prices of 10 items fell and rates of remaining 26 goods recorded no change.