Inflation creeps up to 30.62 per cent

Surge follows three weeks of declining trend

ISLAMABAD:

After three consecutive weeks of a declining trend, inflation has once again started to rise across the country, with the annual rate increasing to 30.62 per cent in the past week.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), in its weekly inflation report, revealed that the prices of 20 commodities increased, the rates of 10 merchandises decreased and those of 21 remained stable.

According to PBS, in the recent week, onion prices went up by 47.77 percent, tomato prices rose by 30.29 percent, tea became expensive by 2.50 percent, and the price of bread increased by 1.74 percent. Moreover, washing soap also became dearer by 1.13 percent.

The report mentioned that potatoes became cheaper by 0.13 percent, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) became cheaper by 4.14 percent. It revealed that the price of flour went down by 2.99 percent, the price of lentils decreased by 1.59 percent, the prices of cooking oil recorded a 1.12 percent decrease, garlic became cheaper by 0.22 percent, and sugar’s price decreased by 0.60 percent.

PBS revealed that for those earning up to Rs17,732 per month, the inflation rate stands at 24.16 percent; for those earning between Rs17,732 and Rs22,888, it stands at 24.01 percent; for those earning between Rs22,888 and Rs29,517, it stands at 28.55 percent; for those earning between Rs29,518 and Rs44,175, it stands at 31.40 percent; and for those earning more than Rs44,176 per month, it stands at 37.09 percent.