ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation for the combined income group dropped by 0.32 per cent for the week ending on March 5 as compared to the previous week, mainly due to decline in prices of perishable products.

The weekly inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), decreased by 1.16pc last week. According to data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday, this week’s decrease is the fourth consecutive decline in SPI.

The SPI is computed on a weekly basis to assess the price movements of essential commodities at short intervals so as to review the price trends in the country. The index comprises prices of 51 essential items taken from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country.

The downward trend in the index in recent weeks will have a positive impact on the total inflation for the month of March.

The food items whose prices declined included tomatoes (10.8pc), LPG (8.4pc), petrol super (4.2pc), diesel (3.9pc), garlic (2.7pc), pulse gram (2.2pc), wheat flour (1.2pc), chicken (0.8pc), masoor pulse (0.8pc), maash pulse (0.5pc), moong pulse (0.5pc) and mustard oil (0.2pc).

The items whose prices increased included potatoes (8.3pc), onions (5.9pc), eggs (4.1pc), sugar (2.4pc), long cloth (1.7pc), bananas (1.4pc), rice Irri (1pc), mutton (0.4pc) and vegetable ghee (0.04pc).

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2020