ISLAMABAD, Feb 11: Inflation denoted by Consumer Price Index (CPI) spiralled by 3.38 per cent in July-January 2003-04, according to the monthly review of price indices issued by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Wednesday.
The same period saw an increase of 4.78pc in Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) and of 6.43pc in Wholesale Price Index (WPI).
According to the statement, the month of January 2004, is marked by sharp jump in all the price indices. According to FBS statement, the CPI shot up by 54.15pc, SPI by 8.44pc and WPI by 9.47pc, as compared to corresponding period of previous year. These are the highest increases for a single month in recent memory.
The difference in CPI and SPI is attributable to the difference in the contents of their respective baskets. The SPI includes mainly foodstuffs which even the poorest households have to purchase to avoid going hungry, while the much larger basket of CPI has items which are not that essential for survival and are consumed by comparatively more affluent households.
Thanks to the comparative decline in prices in respect of items which had sky-rocketed in the fasting month, the statement shows negative movements of CPI (-0.09pc) and SPI (-0.69pc). Only the WPI is shown to have gone up by 0.21pc, as compared to December 2003.
Group-wise analysis of the CPI basket reports that the index for food & beverages spiralled by 7.81pc in January over the same period of 2003, but declined by 0.99pc, as compared to December 2003. Likewise, medicare and recreation & entertainment declined by 0.01pc and 0.13pc, respectively.
All the remaining 7 groups of items became dearer as compared to December 2003, as follows: Apparel, textile & footwear by 0.15pc, house rent 0.65pc; fuel and lighting 0.43pc; household, furniture & equipment, etc., 0.46pc; transport & communication 1.29pc; education 0.06pc; and cleaning, laundry and personal appearance 0.32pc.
The main commodities which showed a decrease in their prices in January, 2004, over December, 2003, are as under:
EDUCATION: Computer and allied products (3.36pc). The main commodities which showed an increase in their prices during the period under review, as compared to previous month are as follows:
FOOD AND BEVERAGES: Onions (23.38pc), sweetmeat & nimco (3.31pc), readymade food (2.41pc), fish (2.27pc), honey (1.01pc) and meat (0.98pc).
FUEL & LIGHTING: Kerosene (4.69pc) and firewood (2.59pc).
TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATION: Diesel (4.65pc) and petrol (4.58pc).
WPI: WPI declined by 0.47pc and 3.04pc in respect of raw materials, respectively, during January 2004 as compared to December 2003, but shot up by 7.62pc and 22.35pc, over the same period of previous year. WPI for manufactures went up by 0.63pc and for building materials by 1.44pc against December 2003 but by 11.77pc and 19.33pc, respectively, against January, 2003.
The items which showed increase in WPI were pig iron, tobacco, wool and hides among raw materials, coke, diesel oil, firewood, kerosene and motor spirit in the category fuel, lighting and lubricants and chemicals, machinery, plastic products, readymade garments, woollen textiles, silk & rayon textile, mattresses and tubes among manufactures, paints & varnishes, tiles, cement and iron bars & sheets among building materials.
