Pakistan’s short-term inflation slightly eased by 0.15 per cent over the past week, while showing a more significant drop of 1.26 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.
The PBS report highlighted that of the 51 essential items monitored, prices for 10 items (19.61 per cent) increased, while another 10 items saw price declines. Meanwhile, the prices of 31 items (60.78 per cent) remained unchanged.
Among the items that recorded price increases, tomatoes saw the most significant rise at 9.62 per cent, followed by LPG at 1.17 per cent. Other items that went up in price include printed lawn fabric (0.62 per cent), mash pulse (0.56 per cent), gur (0.51 per cent), beef (0.30 per cent), long cloth (0.29 per cent), masoor pulse (0.20 per cent), mustard oil (0.13 per cent), and vegetable ghee (0.10 per cent for the 2.5 kg pack).
Conversely, onions experienced the largest price drop, down 4.68 per cent, with bananas following at 4.27 per cent. Eggs, garlic, potatoes, chicken, sugar, and gram pulse also saw price reductions, ranging from 3.87 per cent to 0.67 per cent.
For the lowest income group, weekly inflation dropped by 0.21 per cent, while for the highest income group, it decreased by 0.13 per cent.
On an annual basis, inflation across different income levels fluctuated between 1.98 per cent and 0.59 per cent. The lowest income group experienced a 1.77 per cent reduction in inflation over the year, while the highest income group saw a 0.59 per cent decline.
