ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), for the combined income group eased slightly by 0.13 per cent for the week ending July 27 as compared to the previous week, mainly due to fall in vegetable prices.

The SPI, which monitors prices of 53 items based on a survey of 17 cities and 53 markets, dropped for the fourth consecutive week, according to data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

Prices of 11 items increased and those of 13 items decreased during the period under review. Around 29 items remained unchanged. The impact of prices on various income groups also witnessed variations during the week under review.

For the lowest income group (up to Rs8,000), SPI declined 0.13pc over the previous week, while inflation for the top income group (Rs35,000 and above) was dipped by 0.01pc.

The food items whose prices rose included tomatoes 15.98pc, onions 2.16pc, jaggery (gur) 0.67pc, mutton 0.65pc, beef with bone 0.52pc, curd (dahi) 0.18pc, pulse mash 0.12pc, egg 0.11pc, fresh milk 0.05pc, and rice basmati broken 0.04pc.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2017