ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation for the combined income group was 0.06 per cent for the seven-day period that ended on May 18 mainly due to an increase in the prices of essential food commodities.

Weekly inflation, measured through the sensitive price index (SPI), increased for the second consecutive week, according to data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.

SPI monitors prices of 53 items in 17 cities and 53 markets.

Prices of 15 items increased and those of 11 items decreased during the period under review. Prices of 27 items remained unchanged.

The impact of prices on various income groups also witnessed variations during the week under review.

For the lowest income group (earning up to Rs8,000 a month), SPI declined 0.02pc over the preceding week. Inflation for the top income group (earning Rs35,000 and above) was up 0.10pc.

On a year-on-year basis, SPI for the combined group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 2.77pc.

The price of potatoes rose 5.91pc, bananas 3.21pc, eggs 3.13pc, chicken 2.42pc, gur 1.02pc, rice basmati broken 0.90pc, curd 0.61pc, pulse mash 0.19pc, pulse gram 0.11pc, vegetable ghee tin 0.07pc, vegetable ghee loose 0.06pc and cooking oil tin 0.06pc.

The price of tomatoes fell 7.32pc, onion 5.92pc, sugar 1.66pc, LPG cylinder 3.31pc, powdered milk 0.98pc, wheat 0.90pc, garlic 0.86pc, pulse moong 0.51pc, pulse masoor 0.46pc, wheat flour 0.37pc and red chili powder 0.17pc.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2017