The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended on December 17, 2020, recorded a decrease of 0.22 percent over last week due to a fall in prices of food items, said the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
According to the latest data, released by the PBS, the SPI went down from 141.04 points during the week ended December 10 to 140.73 points during the week under review. The PBS data further stated that the year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 8.24 percent.
These mainly include chilies powder (86.31 percent), chicken (61.95 percent), eggs (59.47 percent), matchbox (24.40 percent), sufi washing soap (23 percent), potatoes (18.72 percent), pulse mash (18.30 percent), mustard oil (17.25 percent), vegetable ghee 1kg (16.36 percent), long cloth (16.24 percent), sugar (15.97 percent), rice irri (15.27 percent), and shirting (15.10 percent).
On the other side, a major decrease was observed in the price of onions (25.50 percent), tomatoes (23.76 percent), diesel (13.22 percent), garlic (13.08 percent), petrol (8.95 percent), electricity for Q1 (5.15 percent) and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) (4.69 percent).
The SPI for the consumption groups up to Rs. 17,733, from Rs. 17,733 to Rs. 22,888, Rs. 22,889 to Rs. 29,517 and Rs. 29,518 to Rs. 44,175 and above Rs. 44,175 per month decreased by 0.96 percent, 0.60 percent, 0.56 percent, 0.51 percent and 0.03 percent, respectively.
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 20 items (39.22 percent) increased, 08 items (15.69 percent) decreased and 23 items (45.19 percent) remained constant.
The commodities, which recorded increase in their average price included electricity charges for Q1 (5.19 percent), garlic (4.90 percent), petrol super (2.97 percent), hi-speed diesel (2.77 percent), bananas (2.58 percent), eggs (2.22 percent), sufi washing soap (1.30 percent), mustard oil (1.15 percent), sugar (1.04 percent), cooking oil (0.55 percent), pulse gram (0.54 percent), vegetable ghee (0.46 percent), vegetable ghee (0.36 percent), pulse mash (0.27 percent), shirting (0.16 percent), powdered milk (0.14 percent), rice irri-6/9 (0.11 percent), LPG (0.10 percent), firewood (0.03 percent) and mutton (0.02 percent).
The commodities, which recorded a decrease in their average price, included tomatoes (25.81 percent), potatoes (18.55 percent), onions (8.34 percent), chicken (2.25 percent), pulse moong (0.58 percent), pulse masoor (0.32 percent), gur (0.26 percent), and wheat flour bag (0.21 percent).
According to PBS, the commodities whose prices remained unchanged during the period under review included basmati rice, beef with bone, bread plain, milk fresh, curd, salt powdered, chilies powder, tea, tea prepared, cigarettes capstan, long cloth 57″, lawn printed, georgette, gents sandal, gents sponge, ladies sandal, gas charges, energy saver, matchbox, telephone call charges, and toilet soap lifebuoy.
