Short-term inflation rises for second week in a row

Pakistan's weekly inflation reading, measured through the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), increased 0.24% due to a hike in food and energy prices in the week ended November 7, 2024, maintaining its uptick for the second consecutive week.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the short-term inflation rate surged 13.89% when compared with the same period of last year.

The week-on-week increase of 0.24% in SPI was led by prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which rose 3.37% to Rs3,328.15 per 11.67kg cylinder compared to Rs3,219.56 per cylinder in the previous week. It was followed by eggs that became costlier by 2.70% to Rs326.48/dozen compared to Rs317.90/dozen a week earlier. Potatoes cost 2.63% more at Rs106.97/kg compared to Rs104.23/kg, while onions were priced 2.61% higher at Rs148.89/kg compared to Rs145.10/kg.

High-speed diesel rose 1.54% to Rs256.32/litre compared to Rs252.43/litre. Petrol (super) went up 0.56% to Rs249.56/litre compared to Rs248.18/litre in the previous week. Many other essential commodities that saw a price increase were mustard oil, tomatoes, vegetable ghee, cooking oil, moong pulse and washing soap. At the beginning of the current week, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in its latest monetary policy statement, noted that food and energy prices were persistently going down globally.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb noted that local prices of pulses and chicken had surged 50-60% in recent times, despite the downward trend globally.

He stated that middlemen were profiteering and warned that strict action would be taken against them to ensure the benefits of global price reduction were passed on to local consumers.

The SPI comprises 51 essential items and their price data is collected from 50 markets across 17 cities.