ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), slowed to 21.22 per cent on an annual basis in the week ending May 16, official data showed on Friday.

However, it decreased by 1.06pc week-on-week, the second-highest fall in the past few weeks, mainly due to the drop in prices of petrol, diesel, wheat flour, rice, and a few vegetables, including tomatoes and onions.

The items whose prices declined week-on-week included tomatoes (31.18pc), onions (21.84pc), garlic (7.76pc), petrol (5.32pc), wheat flour & LPG (3.66pc) each, diesel (2.79pc), rice basmati broken (1.52pc), chillies powder (1.31pc), pulse masoor (1.08pc) and bananas (0.87pc).

The items whose prices increased the most over the previous week included cooked daal (1.96pc), shirting (1.74pc), potatoes (1.46pc), beef (1.11pc), mutton (1.04pc), pulse gram (1pc), energy saver, long cloth & eggs (0.73pc) each, cooked beef (0.50pc) and chicken (0.30pc).

However, on an annual basis, the items whose prices increased the most included gas charges for Q1 (570pc), onions (87.82pc), chillies powder (69.71pc), garlic (61.86pc), tomatoes (35.65pc), salt powder (32.72pc), shirting (31.65pc), energy saver (27.94pc), gents sandal (25.01pc), beef (24.36pc), pulse mash (22.52pc) and sugar (20.58pc).

In contrast, banana prices dropped 39.37pc, followed by wheat flour (29.85pc), chicken (25.62pc), cooking oil (5-litre) (19.65pc), vegetable ghee (1kg, 16.42kg), vegetable ghee (2.5 kg, 16.07pc), mustard oil (12.84pc), LPG (11.11pc), and eggs (9.32pc).

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2024