Pakistan’s short-term inflation rose during the week ending March 11, largely driven by a sharp increase in fuel prices, according to official data released on Thursday.
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), which tracks weekly price movements of essential goods, recorded a 1.89 percent increase compared with the previous week, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed.
The latest figures suggest that higher transport and energy costs played a key role in pushing prices upward during the week.
Petrol prices recorded the largest weekly jump, rising 20.60 percent, while diesel increased 19.54 percent. The price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) also climbed by 12.13 percent.
Food items also saw some increases. Onions rose 9.63 percent, while bananas increased 1.44 percent and wheat flour went up 1.28 percent. Smaller increases were recorded in chicken, pulse mash, firewood, gram, fresh milk and cooked beef.
Some food items become cheaper
Despite the overall rise in the inflation gauge, prices of several food items declined during the week.
Tomatoes fell 3.66 percent, while potatoes dropped 2.86 percent. Prices of garlic, rice IRRI-6/9, pulse masoor, mustard oil, pulse moong and sugar also edged lower.
PBS data shows that out of 51 essential items monitored under the SPI basket, 14 items recorded price increases, nine items became cheaper, while 28 items remained unchanged during the week.
Inflation still higher than last year
On a year-on-year basis, the SPI was 6.44 percent higher compared with the same week last year.
The biggest annual increases were recorded in diesel, gas charges for the first quarter, LPG, wheat flour and petrol. Prices also rose for chilli powder, beef, powdered milk, mutton and gur, among other items.
However, several food items were significantly cheaper compared with last year. Potatoes showed the largest decline at 51.92 percent, followed by chicken, eggs and tomatoes. Prices of pulse gram, garlic, powdered salt and sugar also dropped on an annual basis.
Fertiliser and cement prices
Outside the food basket, the average price of Sona Urea fertiliser stood at Rs4,451 per 50kg bag, slightly higher than last week but 1.65 percent lower than last year.
Meanwhile, the average cement price reached Rs1,477 per 50kg bag, marking a 3.42 percent increase from the previous week and 10.04 percent higher than the same period last year.
The SPI tracks the prices of 51 essential commodities across 50 markets in 17 cities. It is compiled weekly and is widely used by policymakers to monitor short-term price changes and assess inflation trends in the country.
