ISLAMABAD, March 12: The wholesale price of commodities increased by 7.14 per cent during the July-February period of the current fiscal year over the same period of last year.

Official figures released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Monday showed that the wholesale price of commodities rose by 5.09 per cent during January 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 commodities which recorded a growth at the wholesale level in February 2007 in comparison with January 2007 are: Food: Fresh fruits (15.29pc), rice (13.69pc), maize (10.69pc), chicken (9.53pc), mustard and rapeseed oil (3.60pc), potatoes (3.41pc), mash (2.24pc), dry fruits (2.12pc), pulse moon (1.99pc), fruits prepared/pressed (1.57pc), bajra (1.44pc), juwar (1.38pc), wheat (1.33pc), cottonseed oil (1.28pc), vegetable ghee (1.25pc) and spices (1pc).

Among the industrial raw material, price of cotton was up (3.10pc), hides (1.21pc); electricity (24.92pc); machinery (1.85pc); chemicals (1.51pc), drugs and medicines (1.48pc), cotton textiles (1.38pc), tyres (1.22pc), dying materials (1.07pc), iron bars and sheets (8.02pc), bricks (3.06pc), pipe fittings (2.06pc) and timber (1.05pc).

The main commodities which showed a decrease in their prices during February, 2007 over January, 2007 are Food: Tomatoes (71.22pc), eggs (11.77pc), masoor (7.81pc), gur (7.49pc), sugar refined (6.25pc), beans (6.24pc) and vegetables (1.02pc).

Tobacco price declined by 5.67pc, sugarcane (1.31pc), natural gas (10.01pc), furnace oil (6.69pc), transport (2.65pc) and mattresses (2.45pc).