Pakistan’s short-term inflation saw a slight decline of 0.35 per cent over the previous week and a 1.2 per cent drop compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.
Out of 51 essential items monitored during the week, the prices of 11 items (21.57 per cent) rose, 18 items (35.29 per cent) saw a reduction, while 22 items (43.14 per cent) remained unchanged.
The most notable price increases were observed in lawn fabric (up 2.90 per cent), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (up 1.53 per cent), bananas (up 1.45 per cent), long cloth (up 1.23 per cent), bread (up 0.55 per cent), cigarettes (up 0.27 per cent), beef (up 0.25 per cent), curd (up 0.24 per cent), and powdered salt (up 0.03 per cent).
In contrast, significant decreases were recorded in the prices of tomatoes (down 7.08 per cent), onions (down 6.07 per cent), garlic (down 5.59 per cent), eggs (down 4.64 per cent), potatoes (down 2.50 per cent), gram pulse (down 1.60 per cent), branded tea (down 1.30 per cent), sugar (down 0.87 per cent), and firewood (down 0.60 per cent).
Over the year, inflation dropped by 1.20 per cent, with notable decreases in items such as onions (down 67.67 per cent), wheat flour (down 35.58 per cent), tomatoes (down 29.45 per cent), red chillies powder (down 20.00 per cent), electricity charges for Q1 (down 18.92 per cent), branded tea (down 16.98 per cent), pulse mash (down 13.96 per cent), pulse masoor (down 11.69 per cent), basmati rice (down 9.81 per cent), diesel (down 9.37 per cent), petrol (down 8.55 per cent), and LPG (down 5.30 per cent).
However, some items saw substantial price increases over the year, such as ladies’ sandals (up 75.09 per cent), pulse moong (up 26.96 per cent), powdered milk (up 25.75 per cent), beef (up 21.01 per cent), sugar (up 18.65 per cent), chicken (up 18.23 per cent), gram pulse (up 17.83 per cent), vegetable ghee (up 16.13 per cent), bananas (up 15.73 per cent), lawn fabric (up 12.28 per cent), shirting fabric (up 12.20 per cent), and georgette fabric (up 11.20 per cent).
In terms of commodities, the average price of Sona urea stood at Rs4,513 per 50kg bag, reflecting a 0.30 per cent decrease from last week and a 6.54 per cent decline compared to last year. Meanwhile, the average price of cement rose to Rs1,380 per 50kg bag, up 2.83 per cent from the previous week and 13.02 per cent higher than last year.
The PBS tracks short-term inflation through the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) on a weekly basis, analysing the prices of 51 essential goods from 50 markets across 17 cities. This helps provide a snapshot of the price trends in the country over shorter intervals.
