ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) dropped by 0.65 per cent during the week ending Feb 12 over the previous week, reflecting mainly the impact of slump in demand for chicken meat and eggs.

Attributable to the people's aversion from the poultry products following the outbreak of bird flu in Pakistan, this effect on the price index is further vindicated by the fact that it dropped the most for the affluent households with incomes above Rs12,000 per month - 0.68 per cent.

According to the weekly price review released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Saturday, the households at the bottom of the social rung "benefited" the least from the fall in SPI: the index plummeted by 0.33pc for them.

It decreased by 0.43pc for the households in the income bracket Rs3,001-5,000 and by 0.58pc for those in incomes ranging from Rs5,001 to Rs12,000.

Interestingly, as compared to the corresponding period of previous year, the households with the least incomes have been hit the hardest by the price spiral - by 7.35pc, which is more than double the official rate of inflation.

It tapered down to 6.71pc, 5.87pc and 4.94pc for the households, respectively, in income brackets Rs3,001-5,000, Rs5,001-12,000 and above Rs12,000.

In all, the prices of 16 items declined during the period under review, as compared to previous week, as follows:

Egg (farm) (-24.67pc, chicken farm (-19.37pc), tomatoes

(- 11.86pc), onions (-7.97pc), potatoes (-5.79pc), gur (-1.35pc), moong pulse washed (-1.08pc), sugar (-0.98pc), mash pulse washed (- 0.96pc), garlic

(-0.50pc), gram pulse washed

(-0.43pc), rice basmati broken

(-0.32pc), LPG (11 kg cylinder)

(-0.29pc), red chilies powdered

(-0.27pc), mustard oil (-0.14pc) and bananas (-0.10pc).

The 13 items which became dearer during the period under review included mutton and beef which have been almost disappeared from most of the cities since Eidul Azha. The increases, as against previous week, were as follows:

Mutton (3.30pc), milk powdered (Nido) (2.50pc), beef(1.55pc), rice Irri-6 (0.71pc), wheat flour (0.49pc), firewood (-0.47pc), milk fresh (0.31pc), curd (0.26pc), cooked beef (0.24pc), vegetable ghee (loose) (0.21pc), bread plain medium size (0.17pc), wheat (0.09pc) and masoor pulse washed (0.08pc).

CEMENT: This essential component of construction industry registered a further increase in price by 0.12pc during the period under review over the previous week. Based on the prices prevailing in 8 cities, its average cost moved up from Rs225 to Rs235 per 50 kg bag. It cost Rs235 in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Rs230 in Lahore, Rs227.14 in Peshawar, Rs225 in Multan, Rs217 in Karachi and Rs210 in Hyderabad.