ISLAMABAD, June 21: Sensitive Price Indicator jumped by 0.64 per cent during the week ending June 19, 2003, as compared to corresponding period of previous week, according to the data released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Saturday.

This raised the combined SPI index with 2000-01 as the base year for all the income groups to 107.41.

An analysis of increase in SPI indicated that the Food Group had risen by 0.24 per cent during the period under review over previous week, Non-Food by 4.82 per cent, Utility by 1.18 per cent, Transport & Communication by 2.06 per cent and General by 0.60 per cent.

Disaggregated further, the data shows that the SPI during the week under review had moved up by 0.57 per cent for the households in the lowest income group with incomes up to Rs3,000 per month, by 0.66 per cent for those with incomes between Rs3,001 and Rs5,000.

The increase in SPI for households in the income bracket Rs5,001-12,000 was of 0.46 per cent and those for with incomes above Rs12,000 of 0.60 per cent.

The most important reason for the steep rise in SPI was the upward revision of the rates of electricity from Rs2.44 to Rs2.58 per unit — an increase of 5.74 per cent for consumers of units 1-100. Similarly, the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene were raised by 2.31pc, 0.55pc and 0.37pc, respectively, during the period under review.

Besides, prices of 22 other essential items in the 53-item SPI basket also shot up over the previous week as follows:

Potatoes (1.94%), egg (farm) (1.33%), coarse latha (1.06%), chicken farm (0.77%), wheat flour average quality (0.71%), L.P.G. (11 kg cylinder) (0.48%), rice irri-6 & beef (0.37% each), onions (0.33%), cooked beef (plate) (0.26%), gur (0.25%), cooked dal (plate) (0.23%), gram pulse washed (0.20%), mutton (0.19%), moong pulse washed & garlic (0.14% each), curd (0.13%), masoor pulse washed (0.06%), vegetable ghee (loose) and mustard oil (0.05% each).

The same period saw decrease in prices of following five items: Tomatoes (-2.66%), mash pulse washed (0.51%), red chilies (powdered) (-0.44%), sugar (-0.26%) and cooking oil (tin)