ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation rose to 11.32 per cent year-on-year in the week ending October 29, driven largely by perishable food products, according to official data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.
The index, comprising 51 items whose prices are collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is calculated weekly to track changes in the prices of essential commodities and services.
Short-term inflation has remained in double digits for several consecutive weeks, largely on the back of persistent increases in petroleum and diesel prices.
The data showed that of the 51 essential items monitored during the week, the prices of 15 commodities increased, while those of 12 items declined. Meanwhile, the prices of 24 items remained unchanged from the previous week.
The Sensitive Price Index (SPI), which tracks short-term inflation, decreased slightly by 0.35pc week-on-week, reflecting price fluctuations in both food and non-food items.
Unwilling to reduce the petroleum levy, the government has continued to raise petrol and diesel prices. The surge in energy costs is not only fuelling inflationary pressures but also indirectly boosting sales tax collections through higher prices of goods and services.
This is an example of cost-push inflation, in which rising energy costs lead to increases in food prices. As a result, households are facing mounting pressure from higher consumer prices.
The items that recorded the highest price increases over the previous week included tomatoes (34.91pc), potatoes (3.27pc), diesel (2.53pc), pulse gram (2.11pc), plain bread (1.29pc), onions (0.62pc), fresh milk (0.48pc), curd (0.46pc), vegetable ghee (0.29pc) and firewood (0.2pc).
The items that recorded week-on-week price declines included electricity charges for Q1 (3.92pc), chicken (2.95pc), eggs (2.81pc), wheat flour (0.83pc), LPG (0.73pc), bananas (0.71pc), rice IRRI-6/9 and masoor pulse (0.43pc each), petrol (0.39pc), sugar (0.35pc) and powdered milk (0.33pc).
On an annual basis, the items that recorded the highest price increases included LPG (106.86pc), electricity charges for Q1 (52.38pc), diesel (45.13pc), petrol (43.61pc), wheat flour (34.87pc), chicken (31.72pc), chilli powder (15.55pc), mutton (14.66pc), plain bread (12.26pc), beef (12.10pc), onions (8.99pc) and prepared tea (8.41pc).
In contrast, potato prices fell by 38.67pc, followed by tomatoes (27.99pc), eggs (26.70pc), sugar (25.21pc), powdered salt (14.86pc), gur (8.51pc), masoor pulse (8.37pc) and moong pulse (6.42pc).
Last week, short-term inflation rose to 11.85pc year-on-year, driven largely by higher wheat flour prices, according to data released by the PBS.
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