Weekly inflation stays elevated on costly food, energy

Published September 16, 2023
Food items, mainly vegetables like tomatoes, garlic, onions and pulses registered price increases over the preceding week. — Online/file
Food items, mainly vegetables like tomatoes, garlic, onions and pulses registered price increases over the preceding week. — Online/file

ISLAMABAD: The short-term inflation witnessed a year-on-year increase of 26.25 per cent for the week ending on Sept 14 mainly due to a sharp increase in the retail price of vegetables across the country, showed the official data released on Friday.

In the wake of the Torkham border closure with Afghanistan, the prices of vegetables, particularly tomatoes and onions, have experienced a dramatic surge. This unprecedented increase can be attributed to the subsequent suspension of vegetable supplies.

Both countries opened the border for trade on Thursday.

To meet the local demand, Pakistan has been relying on imports of essential vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, potatoes and various others from Afghanistan.

Contrary to this the crackdown against smuggling and the closure of borders with Afghanistan, the sugar retail price saw a decline of over nine per cent during the week under review.

The short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), remained elevated. It, however, declined 0.25pc from the preceding week after an upward increase for the past seven consecutive weeks.

Of the 51 items in the SPI basket, prices of 24 goods soared, eight dropped and 21 remained unchanged compared to the previous week.

During the week under review, the items whose prices increased the most over the same week a year ago were: wheat flour (114.37pc), gas charges for Q1 (108.38pc), cigarettes (98.11pc), rice basmati broken (91.07pc), sugar (90.27pc), chillies powder (84.84pc), rice Irri-6/9 (82.03pc), tea Lipton (76.19pc), gur (73.95pc), gents sponge chappal (58.05pc), salt powdered (55.08pc), gents sandal (53.37pc), bread (45.79pc) and powdered milk (43.05pc).

The biggest rise week-on-week was in the price of tomatoes (4.29pc), garlic (4.21pc), bread (3.92pc), onions (3.60pc), pulse masoor (3.19pc), salt powdered (2.77pc), shirting (1.68pc), pulse moong (1.66pc), lawn printed (1.32pc), pulse mash (1.25pc) and long cloth (1.18pc).

In May, the SPI stayed above 45pc for three weeks after hitting an all-time high at 48.35pc on May 4.

The rupee depreciation, rising petrol prices, sales tax and electricity bills are among the key contributors to this inflationary trend. According to the latest IMF forecast, the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the current fiscal year is projected to be 25.9pc from the previous year’s 29.6pc.

Meanwhile, a decrease was also observed on a week-on-week basis in prices of sugar (9.11pc), chicken (5.47pc), eggs (2.79pc), bananas (0.86pc), tea Lipton (0.59pc), pulse gram (0.57pc), vegetable 1 kg (0.16pc) and cooking oil 5-litre (0.10pc).

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2023

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Dangerous times
Updated 14 Feb, 2025

Dangerous times

Pakistan accounted for six journalist killings in 2024, of which three were deliberately murdered, according to the CPJ.
Difficult target
14 Feb, 2025

Difficult target

A ONE-two punch delivered by an unforeseen, sharp dip in inflation and an extremely slim base of taxpayers is...
Amazing show
14 Feb, 2025

Amazing show

PAKISTAN’S ability to turn it up at the flick of a switch remains uninhibited. The latest show came in...
Trump’s folly
Updated 13 Feb, 2025

Trump’s folly

This latest pronouncement only reinforces the fears of those who see the plan as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing.
Corruption ranking
13 Feb, 2025

Corruption ranking

IT comes as little surprise. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2024, unveiled on...
Support from remittances
13 Feb, 2025

Support from remittances

EVEN though workers’ remittances dipped, albeit negligibly, in January on a month-over-month basis, the earnings...