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Short-term inflation in Pakistan, measured through the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), climbed 3.57 per cent year-on-year for the week ending August 28, primarily driven by a sharp rise in prices of perishable food items, Dawn reported, citing official figures released on Friday.
According to Dawn, this marks the sixth consecutive week of inflationary increases. On a weekly basis, the SPI rose by 0.62 per cent, largely due to hikes in the prices of tomatoes, onions, potatoes, chicken, LPG, and wheat flour. Sugar prices also contributed to the rise, with retail rates now between PKR 190 and PKR 200 per kilogram. Meat prices have also been steadily climbing in recent weeks, Dawn reported. While the current inflation pace is slower than last year due to a high base effect, essential food items continue to drive overall costs upward. Most non-perishable items remained stable, except for notable increases in wheat flour and meat. During the reviewed week, the biggest price hikes were observed in tomatoes (14.98 per cent), wheat flour (12.11 per cent), chicken (3.36 per cent), potatoes (1.52 per cent), mustard oil (1.37 per cent), eggs (1.03 per cent), LPG (0.82 per cent), cooked beef (0.81 per cent), garlic (0.78 per cent), lawn-printed fabric (0.23 per cent), firewood (0.17 per cent), and long cloth (0.11 per cent), seeing that reported by Dawn. Meanwhile, some commodities saw price drops, including pulse mash (0.43 per cent), pulse masoor and pulse gram (0.28 per cent each), bananas (0.12 per cent), vegetable ghee (2.5kg, 0.10 per cent), and onions (0.01 per cent). On an annual basis, the steepest price increases were recorded for ladies' sandals (55.62 per cent), gas charges for Q1 (29.85 per cent), sugar (26.91 per cent), beef (12.99 per cent), gur (12.18 per cent), bananas (11.78 per cent), moong dal (11.74 per cent), firewood (11.47 per cent), and various forms of vegetable ghee and cooked beef, as reported by Dawn. In contrast, some items became significantly cheaper compared to last year, including onions (down by 49.31 per cent), garlic (down by 25.98 per cent), pulse mash (down by 23.39 per cent), potatoes (down by 19.96 per cent), and pulse gram (down by 18.54 per cent). Electricity charges, branded tea, and certain rice and LPG types also saw notable year-on-year declines. According to Dawn, the SPI data, based on 51 essential goods monitored across 50 markets in 17 cities in Pakistan, revealed that during the latest week, prices rose for 18 items, fell for six, and remained unchanged for 27. (ANI)
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