ISLAMABAD, May 14: The wholesale price of commodities has increased by 6.89 per cent in the first 10 months (July-April) of the current fiscal year over the same period of last year.

Official figures released here by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) showed that the wholesale price of commodities witnessed an upward trend by 6.03 per cent in April 2007 over the same month last year.

The WPI went up by 1.16 per cent in April 2007 in comparison with the month of March.

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 April over March 2007 are as under: tomatoes (30.13 pc), beans (7.61pc), vegetable ghee (7.53pc), chicken (6.71pc), vegetables (6.04pc), bajra (4.78pc), fish (4.60pc), maize (4.33pc), cotton seed oil (4.30pc), fresh fruits (4.06pc), rice (3.07 pc), dry fruits (2.82pc), cooking oil (2.68pc), oil cakes (1.81 pc), powdered milk (1.06pc) and meat (0.96pc).

Among raw materials: cotton (4.76pc) and hides (0.78pc), furnace oil (10.13pc), mobil oil (4.66pc) and fire-wood (0.73 pc), fertiliser (7.81pc), jute manufactures (1.24pc) and cosmetics (0.71pc), bricks (2.49pc) and iron bars and sheets (0.90pc).

The main commodities which showed a decrease in their prices in April 2007 over March 2007 are: Onions (45.27pc), eggs (25.20 pc), potatoes (11.85pc), grams split (6.04pc), basin (4.87 pc), gram whole (2.68pc), gur (2.47pc), sugar refined (1.66pc), wheat (1.48pc), mustard and rapeseed (1.18pc), moong (1.08pc) and condiments (1.04pc).