November 12, 2002	Tuesday	Ramazan 6, 1423

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: Consumer Price Index inflation during the first four months of current financial year soared by 3.71 per cent over the same period of previous year, according to the monthly review of price indices issued by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Monday.

The main contributor to price spiral was the frequent raise in rates of utilities, particularly, electricity and petroleum fuels.

The increase in CPI during July-October of 2001-02 was of 3.57 per cent as compared to corresponding period of 2001.

Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) shot up by 4.91 per cent during the period under review, while the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) recorded an increase of 3.84 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

During the month of October 2002, CPI went up by 3.49 per cent, SPI by 4.20 per cent and WPI by 5.71 per cent over same month last year. When compared with previous month, CPI surged by 0.16 per cent and WPI by 0.54 per cent, while SPI declined by 0.24 per cent in the FBS data.

The same data go on to report 0.09 and 0.52 per cent decline in the CPI for food and medicare groups in October compared to previous month. Viewed in the context of previous year, these increased by 3.63 and 3.76 per cent, respectively. Decline in medicare is attributable almost exclusively to withdrawal of 15 per cent General Sales Tax.

The group of transport & communication recorded the highest increase in October: 1.94 per cent compared to previous month. But this group has spiralled by 7.26 per cent over the same month the previous year.

October stands out as the rare time when the oil prices were increased and then reduced in some cases (except diesel which became dearer). Therefore, the CPI for fuel & lighting group registered an increase of 0.43 per cent over previous month. When compared with October 2001, however, this group has become dearer by 9.31 per cent.

The increase in CPI for other groups during October 2002 against September 2002 was as follows: Apparel, textile & footwear (-0.10%), house rent (0.06%), household, furniture & equipment etc. (0.09%), education (0.26%), and cleaning, laundry & appearance (0.19%).

The main commodities which showed an increase in their prices during October 2002 over September 2002 are as under: Food and beverages: Tomatoes (30.96%), vegetables (6.81%), eggs (5.30%), fish (0.99%) and wheat flour (0.98%). Fuel & lighting: kerosene (2.97%) and natural gas (0.99%). Transport & communication: Diesel (11.34%), transport fare charges (3.67%), petrol (1.58%) and services charges (1.34%). Education: Stationery (1.29%).

The main items which registered a decrease in their prices during October over previous month were as follows:

Food and beverages: Onions (-27.27%), chicken farm (-4.82%) and fresh fruits (-4.47%). Medicare: Drugs & medicines: (-1.14%). According to FBS, WPI for raw materials including cotton and tobacco increased by 3.47 and 1.84 per cent, respectively. However, WPI for mustard and rapeseed declined by 4.58 per cent and cottonseed by 3.77 per cent.