October 12, 2003	Sunday	Sha'aban 15, 1424

ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: Inflation (Consumer Price Index) moved up by 1.78 per cent during the period July-September, 2003, as compared to the same period of previous year, according to the Monthly Review of Price Indices issued by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Saturday.

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) spiralled by 1.66pc and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) by 3.36pc during the period under review.

According to the FBS review, the month of September recorded an increase of 2.18pc in CPI, 1.32pc in SPI and 2.92pc in WPI, as compared to corresponding period of the previous year. The increase in all the three indices, in comparison with previous month (August, 2003) too was substantial, that is, 0.60pc for CPI, 0.75pc for SPI and 0.21pc for WPI.

Among the 10 groups of commodities comprising the CPI basket, the Food group was the main contributor to the price spiral. It went up by 1.33pc in September over the previous month. Some other groups underwent spurt in CPI as follows:

House rent (0.45%), fuel & lighting (0.02%), household, furniture & equipment etc. (0.08%), cleaning, laundry & personal appearance (0.52%) and medicare (0.10%).

Interestingly, the FBS review shows zero change in respect of Education and decline in CPI for three other groups as follows: Apparel, textile & footwear (0.08%), transport & communication (0.75%) and recreation & entertainment (0.65%).

The main items which showed an increase in their prices during September 2003 over August 2003 are as under:

Vegetables (19.32%), onions (19.10%), chicken farm (8.35%), sugar (3.43%), wheat (3.27%), maida (2.41%), wheat flour (2.33%), gur (2.14%), gram whole (1.78%), potatoes (1.30%), dry fruits (1.01%), jewellry (2.24%) and washing soap & detergent (2.05%).

Following items registered decrease in their prices in September from previous month:

Tomatoes (22.18%), fresh fruits (4.57%), eggs and betel leaves & nuts (3.06%), kerosene oil (4.73%), entertainment (1.04%) and computer & allied products (5.26%).

WPI: According to the FBS review, the prices of raw materials and fuel, lighting & lubricants group eased to a significant extent. The WPI for these decreased by 1.80pc and 1.32pc, respectively, in September, as compared to August. The former group included cotton seed and cotton, while in the latter group, “Other” oils and motor fuels prices showed some decline.

However, the wholesale prices of chemicals and machinery in the Manufactures group and wires & cables in the building materials group moved up by 2.25pc, 1.26pc and 8.61pc, respectively.