ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), further slowed to 18.4 per cent during the past week, the lowest reading since May 2022, official data showed on Friday.

It’s also the first time since May 2022 that the SPI-based inflation has fallen below 20pc.

The rate of inflation during the week ending August 1 eased mainly due to a lower increase in the prices of items like onions and powdered milk, and a decline in the prices of wheat flour, cooking oil, vegetable ghee, eggs and chilli powder.

The weekly inflation hit a record 48.35pc year-on-year in early May 2023, but then decelerated as low as 24.4pc in late August 2023 before surging past 40pc in mid-November. The last reading above 40pc was witnessed in late January 2024.

Slows to 18.4pc compared to 20.09pc in preceding week

During the past week, the items whose prices declined week-on-week included electricity charges (15.8pc), bananas (4.9pc), diesel (3.8pc), petrol (2.2pc), wheat flour (0.98pc), and sugar and cigarettes (0.21pc each). The items whose prices increased the most included chicken (5.9pc), eggs (1.6pc), cooked daal (1.05pc), pulse gram (0.8pc), cooked beef (0.5pc), broken basmati rice (0.44pc), garlic (0.43pc), onions (0.4pc), shirting (0.09pc) and LPG (0.06pc).

On an annual basis, the items whose prices increased the most included gas charges (570pc), onions (86.5pc), pulse gram (41.8pc), powered milk (32.3pc), pulse moong (30.2pc), garlic (27.9pc), shirting (25.1pc), gents sandal (25pc), powdered salt (23.3pc), and beef (23.1pc).

In contrast, the prices of wheat flour dropped 32.3pc, followed by electricity charges (15.5pc), cooking oil (13.4pc), vegetable ghee (9.99pc), eggs (7.9pc), chilli powder (7pc), mustard oil (6.8pc), and broken basmati rice (5.7pc).

The SPI index, comprising 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is computed weekly to assess the prices of essential commodities and services at shorter intervals. Data showed that in the week under review, the prices of 24 items increased, those of 7 items decreased and those of 20 items remained stable compared to the previous week.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2024