ISLAMABAD, Dec 2: Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) registered an increase of 0.03pc over the previous week, raising the index to 106.93 during the week ending Nov 28, according to weekly prices statement released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Monday.

The statement contains for the first time separate tables about wages of five categories of workers, electricity and average prices of 51 essential items comprising the SPI basket.

The workers covered in the data are mason, carpenter, plumber, labourer and electrician. The information provided in the table includes daily wage of these workers prevailing in 17 towns of Pakistan.

According to the statement, the only category which saw some improvement in daily wages is the electrician, that is, 0.28pc - over the previous week. As compared to the corresponding period of previous year, the wage of mason went up by 0.55pc, that of plumber 0.05pc, of labourer 0.81pc and of electrician 0.93pc. There was no change in the wage of carpenter over the whole of past year.

As against the nominal increase in wages of these workers, the SPI index soared by 3.43pc during the same period, indicating sharp decline in purchasing power of their wage.

FBS data shows zero change in electricity charges for various categories of users over the previous week. But when considered in the context of the cost of power prevailing in November 2001, it spiralled by 6.00pc for consumption up to 50 units, by 16.36pc for those consuming up to 100 units, by 11.18pc for those in consumption bracket 101-300, by 6.58pc for 301-1,000 units and by 4.39pc for consumption above 1,000 units.

As regards commercial consumers, electricity surged by 7.40 and 7.01pc, respectively, for consumption of power up to 100 units and that above 100 units.

Similarly, gas charges remained unchanged when compared with previous week. But substantial increase is reported for different slabs of rates over the past one year as follows: 7.86pc for 101-200 cubic metres (CM); 16.00pc for 201-300 CM; and 19.84pc for more than 300 CM.

The tables about comparative percentage change in prices, moreover, have been enriched: These now include the weightage of each item as well as the combined weightage in respect of items which registered increase and decrease plus impact on the lowest income group (monthly incomes up to Rs3,000) and on all the four income groups included in SPI.

According to FBS data, the SPI increased only for the highest income households with incomes above Rs12,000 per month. It declined by 0.14pc for households in income group up to Rs3,000, by 0.09pc for those with incomes ranging from Rs3,001 to Rs5,000 and by 0.02pc for the income bracket Rs5,001-12,000.

The FBS reported decrease in prices of 15 items with combined weightage of 33.12pc during the period under review. For the lowest income group, however, the weightage of these items added up to 40.88pc.