ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: The wholesale prices of commodities increased by 7.83 per cent during the July-October period of the current fiscal year over the same period of last year.

Official figures released here by Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) showed the wholesale price of commodities rose by 6.70 per cent during the month of October 2006 over the same month last year.

The WPI measures changes in average ex-factory and wholesale prices of 425 items grouped into five broad categories. The categories include food items, raw materials, fuel, lighting and lubricants, manufacturing and building materials.

The main commodities, which showed an increase in their prices during October over September, are Food: Onion (38.97 per cent), fresh fruit (12.29 per cent), besan (6.44 per cent), vegetables (6.38 per cent), gram split (3.56 per cent), fruit prepared/preserved (2.63 per cent), cottonseed oil (1.73 per cent), wheat (1.61 per cent), masoor (1.12 per cent), beans (1.11 per cent), mineral water (1.06 per cent) and potatoes (1 per cent).

Raw materials: Pig iron (14.29 per cent), mustard/rapeseeds (4.62 per cent) and wool (1.40 per cent). Fuel and Lighting: Coke (9.09 per cent) and firewood (1.67 per cent).

The main commodities, which showed a decrease in their prices during October over September are Food: Tomatoes (29.37 per cent), oil cake (9.86 per cent), moong (6.77 per cent), jawar (4.87 per cent), bajra (3.52 per cent), chicken (2.99 per cent), sugar refined (2.03 per cent), gur (1.67 per cent) and mash (1.28 per cent).

Raw material: Cottonseeds (14.79 per cent) and cotton (6.23 per cent). Manufactures: Fertiliser (9.56 per cent), chemicals (2.70 per cent), woolen textile (2.09 per cent), jute manufactures (1.22 per cent) and dying materials (1.08 per cent).

Building Material: Tiles (4.37 per cent) and bricks (2.16 per cent).