Price indicator: Weekly index rises 0.9%

Prices of 18 items increased while 3 decreased in a week.

ISLAMABAD:

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the lowest income group up to Rs3,000 has registered an increase of 0.9 per cent over the previous week for the week ended on August 30.

According to provisional figures of the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), SPI for the week under review was recorded at 314.44 points as opposed to 311.65 points registered in the previous week.

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

SPI for the combined group registered an increase of 0.9 percent, as it went up from 304.83 points, which it registered in the previous week, to 307.58 points in the week under review.

When compared with the last year’s corresponding week, SPI for the combined group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 16.33 per cent.

SPI for the income groups ranging from Rs3,001-Rs5,000, Rs5,001-Rs12,000 and over Rs12,000 went up by 0.93 per cent, 0.88 per cent and 0.75 per cent, respectively, in comparison with the previous week.

During the week under review, the average prices of three items decreased, 18 items increased and 32 items remained unchanged.



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