August 12, 2007	Sunday	Rajab 27, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Aug 11: Prices of 21 essential items, including tomatoes, witnessed an upward trend during the week ending Aug 10 over the previous week, according to statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) here on Saturday.

According to data, the price of tomatoes increased by 16.78pc to Rs32.50 per kg as against Rs27.83, an increase of 12.42pc was seen in onions, which stood at Rs14.94 per kg during the week as against Rs13.29.

The price of chicken increased by 5.22pc to Rs78.60 per kg from Rs74.70, potatoes 3.60pc to Rs16.67 per kg as against Rs16.09, 2.95pc increase in plain bread to Rs16.41 each as against Rs15.94, LPG cylinder 2.69pc to Rs557.56 each from Rs542.94; masoor (washed) 2.25pc to Rs54.45 per kg as against Rs53.25, red chillies 2.17pc to Rs123.50 per kg as against Rs120.88, milk powder (Nido) 1.92 per cent to Rs144.41 per 400gm as against Rs141.69.

The price of mustard oil increased by 1.79pc to Rs92.50 per kg as against Rs90.87, gur 1.31pc to Rs35.52 per kg as against Rs35.06, sugar 1.28pc to Rs30.14 per kg as against Rs29.76, vegetable ghee tin by 1.13pc to Rs262.94 per 2.5 kg as against Rs260, cooking oil tin 1.13pc to Rs262.94 per 2.5 kg as against Rs260, cooked dal plate 0.74pc to Rs18.98 each as against Rs18.84.

The price of electric bulb was up by 0.50pc to Rs12.12 each as against Rs12.06, vegetable ghee loose 0.40pc to Rs87.36 per kg as against Rs87.01, garlic 0.39pc to Rs52.08 per kg as against Rs51.88, wheat 0.32pc to Rs12.64 per kg as against Rs12.60, milk fresh 0.28pc to Rs29.16 per kg as against Rs29.08 and gram pulse (washed) 0.25pc to Rs40.82 per kg as against Rs40.72.

The surge in the prices of items of daily use has pushed up the weekly inflation measured through the Sensitive Price Index (SPI).

The SPI increased by 0.63 per cent during the week under review.

The group-wise analysis of the behaviour of prices of 53 essential items in 17 towns of Pakistan shows that the SPI witnessed an increase of 0.59 per cent and 0.61 per cent, respectively, for households in the two lower income brackets (up to Rs3,000 and Rs3,001-5,000).

For households in income brackets Rs5, 001-12,000, the increase in the SPI was in the range of 0.64 per cent, while for households in the income group basket of over Rs12, 000, the inflation registered a growth of 0.59 per cent over the previous week. Comparing with the corresponding week last year, the SPI registered an increase of 7.56 per cent during the period under review.