Pakistan’s Consumer Price Index-based inflation witnessed an increase of 12.2 percent on a year-on-year basis in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 13 percent in the previous month and 8.7 percent in February 2021, says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased by 1.2 percent in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.4 percent in the previous month and an increase of 1.8 percent in February 2021.
Finance Ministry Spokesperson Muzammil Aslam noted on Twitter that February’s CPI came in marginally lower at 12.2 percent compared to January’s 13 percent. He said, “Despite the lower inflation in February, the inflation surprise on [the] upside due to unusual high movement in tomatoes prices and contributed almost 60% increase in February from January”.
February CPI brief:
– February CPI came in lower at 12.2% compared to January 13%
– Despite the lower inflation in February, the inflation surprise on upside due to unusual high movement in tomatoes prices and contributed almost 60% increase in February from January
— Muzzammil Aslam (@MuzzammilAslam3) March 1, 2022
“Adjusted with tomatoes prices the February inflation would have been 10.8% YoY. Similarly, if we adjust the month-on-month tomatoes prices, the inflation would have been only 0.6% MoM,” he said.
” Going forward, we expect tomatoes prices to start reverse from mid-March on the arrival of [the] crop in Punjab,” he added.
The CPI inflation Urban, increased by 11.5 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 13 percent in the previous month and 8.6 percent in February 2021. On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, it increased by 0.9 percent in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.1 percent in the previous month and an increase of 2.3 percent in February 2021.
The CPI inflation Rural, increased by 13.3 percent on a year-on-year basis in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 12.9 percent in the previous month and 8.8 percent in February 2021. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 1.5 percent in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.9 percent in the previous month and an increase of 1.1 percent in February 2021.
The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) inflation increased by 18.7 percent YoY in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 20.9 percent a month earlier and an increase of 11.9 percent in February 2021. On an MoM basis, it increased by 1.3 percent in February 2022 as compared to a decrease of 0.8 percent a month earlier and an increase of 3.1 percent in February 2021.
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation on a YoY basis increased by 23.6 percent in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 24 percent a month earlier and an increase of 9.5 percent in February 2021. WPI inflation on an MoM basis increased by 1.9 percent in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.6 percent a month earlier and an increase of 2.2 percent in the corresponding month i.e. February 2021.
The wave of inflation in the country is still in full swing as it swelled by 11.5 percent mainly due to high prices of food items and transport fares in the country during the first eight months (July-February 2021-22) of the current fiscal year as compared to the last fiscal year.
Measured by non-food non-energy Urban, it increased by 7.8 percent on a YoY basis in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 8.2 percent in the previous month and 6.4 percent in February 2021. On an MoM basis, it increased by 0.8 percent in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.8 percent in the previous month, and an increase of 1.1 percent in the corresponding month of last year.
Measured by non-food non-energy Rural, it increased by 9.4 percent on a YoY basis in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 9 percent in the previous month and 7.7 percent in February 2021. On an MoM basis, it increased by 0.9 percent in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 1.2 percent in the previous month, and an increase of 0.5 percent in the corresponding month of last year.
Measured by 20 percent weighted trimmed mean urban increased by 9.8 percent on a YoY basis in February 2022 as compared to 10.6 percent in the previous month and 7.9 percent in February 2021. On an MoM basis, it increased by 0.8 percent in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.5 percent in the previous month and an increase of 1 percent in the corresponding month of last year.
Measured by 20 percent weighted trimmed mean rural increased by 11.3 percent on a YoY basis in February 2022 as compared to 10.9 percent in the previous month and by 9.2 percent in February 2021. On an MoM basis, it increased by 1.2 percent in February 2022 as compared to an increase of 1.1 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.5 percent in the corresponding month of last year.
The top few commodities which varied from the previous month and contributed to Urban CPI among the food that registered an increase were tomatoes (191.72 percent), chicken (11.61 percent), vegetables (10.69 percent), fruits (7.32 percent), mustard oil (6.04 percent), fish (3.31 percent), pulse gram (2.88 percent), vegetable ghee (2.68 percent), cooking oil (2.27 percent), besan (1.99 percent), rice (1.80 percent), gram whole (1.58 percent), meat (1.25 percent) and pulse masoor (1.18 percent). The items which registered a decrease were eggs (11.82 percent), potatoes (9.68 percent), onions (8.81 percent), condiments & spices (6.47 percent), sugar (3.96 percent), and pulse moong (0.74 percent).
Among non-food items, motor fuel (4.24 percent), washing soap/detergents/matchbox (2.21 percent), hosiery (2.03 percent), motor vehicle accessories (1.59 percent), clinic fee (1.57 percent), solid fuel (1.56 percent), and cleaning & laundering (1.17 percent) witnessed an increase while electricity charges (7.76 percent) and liquefied hydrocarbons (3.16 percent) witnessed a decrease.
YoY top few commodities which varied from the corresponding month of the previous year among food which increased were tomatoes (310.06 percent), mustard oil (49.85 percent), cooking oil (41.03 percent), vegetable ghee (38.82 percent), pulse masoor (38.42 percent), vegetables (33.31 percent), fruits (26.07 percent), gram whole (24.38 percent), meat (23.64 percent), pulse gram (13.90 percent), beans (13.03 percent), besan (11.97 percent), rice (11.89 percent) and milk (10.84 percent). The commodities whose prices decreased were pulse moong (25.64 percent), condiments & spices (13.63 percent), sugar (5.43 percent), onions (5.35 percent), and chicken (4.62 percent)
Among non-food items, which increased are liquefied hydrocarbons (54.60 percent), motor fuel (39.72 percent), cleaning & laundering (22.90 percent), washing soap/detergents/matchbox (17.09 percent), motor vehicle accessories (15.86 percent), solid fuel (12.67 percent), plastic products (11.43 percent) and stationery (10.50 percent).
The top few commodities, which varied from the previous month and contributed to Rural CPI and which increased among food items were tomatoes (198.35 percent), vegetables (10.72 percent), chicken (8.73 percent), fruits (6.48 percent), mustard oil (5.33 percent), gram whole (5.07 percent), pulse gram (4.63 percent), pulse masoor (4.22 percent), cooking oil (3.74 percent), vegetable ghee (3.31 percent), rice (3.27 percent), fish (3.16 percent), wheat (2.93 percent), besan (2.65 percent), bakery & confectionary (2.58 percent), meat (2.28 percent) and beans (1.59 percent) and decreased among potatoes (17.59 percent), eggs (11.00 percent), onions (5.62 percent), sugar (5.29 percent), condiments & spices (1.29 percent), pulse moong (1.21 percent) and pulse mash (0.64 percent).
Among non-food items which increased are motor fuels (4.67 percent), plastic products (2.37 percent), washing soaps/detergents/matchbox (2.20 percent), stationery (1.76 percent), motor vehicles accessories (1.74 percent), hosiery (1.29 percent) and solid fuel (0.95 percent) and decreased in electricity charges (7.76 percent).
YoY top few commodities which varied from the corresponding month of the previous year and registered increase among food items are tomatoes (267.51 percent), mustard oil (52.00 percent), cooking oil (47.73 percent), vegetable ghee (44.06 percent), pulse masoor (39.78 percent), vegetables (39.21 percent), gram whole (34.43 percent), fruits (25.30 percent), meat (24.30 percent), beans (14.84 percent) and besan (14.55 percent) and decreased among pulse moong (26.37 percent), condiments & spices (16.05 percent), onions (5.06 percent), sugar (4.53 percent) and chicken (3.15 percent).
Among non-food items, which increased are liquefied hydrocarbons (47.00 percent), motor fuels (38.93 percent), washing soaps/detergents/matchbox (18.62 percent), cleaning & laundering (16.82 percent), hosiery (15.68 percent), motor vehicles accessories (15.26 percent), solid fuel (15.11 percent), woolen readymade garments (15.03 percent), woolen cloth (14.02 percent), plastic products (12.70 percent) and furniture & furnishing (12.58 percent).
The top few commodities which varied from the previous month and contributed to the WPI inflation and increase included vegetables (23.50 percent), fruits (15.77 percent), poultry (14.75 percent), furnace oil (13.61 percent), oilseeds (8.16 percent), kerosene oil (5.69 percent), fertilizers (5.39 percent), motor spirit (5.32 percent), diesel (5.19 percent), quilts (5.00 percent), vegetable ghee (3.90 percent), bedsheets (3.67 percent), lighting equipment (2.33 percent), rice (2.25 percent), soaps & detergents (1.27 percent) and hosiery products (1.24 percent) and decreased among eggs (16.88 percent), potatoes (9.28 percent), electrical energy (9.27 percent), sugar (4.15 percent), wheat (2.88 percent), maize (1.58 percent), stimulant & spice crops (1.37 percent) and bajra (1.16 percent).
YoY top few commodities which varied from the previous year and registered increased fibre crops (80.77 percent), vegetables (70.86 percent), oilseeds (62.53 percent), kerosene oil (51.54 percent), furnace oil (47.69percent), steel bar & sheets (46.28 percent), chemicals (46.15 percent), fertilizers (46.10 percent), cotton yarn (45.36 percent), vegetable ghee (44.67 percent), diesel (40.97 percent), motor spirit (40.92 percent), vegetable oils (32.89 percent), bajra (22.36 percent) and meat (20.43 percent) and decreased among spices (33.63 percent), poultry (5.78 percent), sugar (4.96 percent), maize (3.31 percent) and eggs (1.89 percent).
