ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) surged further 0.14 per cent during the week ending Sept 25, 2003, as compared to previous week.
This fifth rise in SPI in as many weeks raised the index to 110.06, with 2000-01 as the base year. As compared to corresponding period of previous year, this denoted an increase of 1.83 per cent, according to the weekly price review released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Saturday.
While the combined index rose by 0.13 per cent each for the three income groups including households with incomes up to Rs3,000, those in the income range Rs3,001-5,000 and those with incomes in excess of Rs12,000, while households in the income bracket Rs5,001-12,000 incurred a further increase of 0.15 per cent.
It was exclusively the Food group that contributed to the increase in SPI for all the income groups except the top one (incomes above Rs12,000), for which the Food group decreased, instead of increasing, by 0.25 per cent.
The implication is that only those foodstuffs became dearer which constituted the diet of the lower- and middle-income people. In their case, the Food group index shot up by 0.19 per cent to 0.21 per cent, as compared to the previous week.
Out of 53 essential items comprising the SPI basket, the price of 16 items recorded further increase over the previous week as follows:
Tomatoes (14.94%), onions (1.62%), mash pulse washed (1.19%), egg (farm) (1.04%), masoor pulse washed (0.97%) moong pulse washed (0.94%), chicken farm (0.84%), gram pulse washed (0.73%), gur (0.67%), garlic (0.47%), LPG cylinder (11-kg) (0.47%), sugar and red chilies (powdered) (0.30% each), rice Irri-6 (0.24%), vegetable ghee (loose) (0.20%) and curd (0.04%).
According to the survey of markets of 17 towns all over Pakistan, the prices of only five items decreased during the period under review from the level of previous week. These included:
Bananas (4.12%), bath soap (2.06%), potatoes (1.93%), kerosene (0.13%) and wheat (0.11%). Thus the national
average price of wheat decreased from Rs9.07 to Rs9.06 per kg.
CEMENT: The price of cement spurted by 0.22 per cent, as compared to previous week. Lahore joined Islamabad and Quetta as the places which continued to score the peak price of Rs230 per 50-kg bag. The lowest price was recorded in Hyderabad — Rs210.
FERTILIZER: Phosphatic fertilizers continued to rise in their price during the period under review. The absolute price of Dia Ammonium Phosphate was set at Rs825, up Rs5 (0.61 per cent) per bag from previous week and Rs75 (9.90 per cent) from the corresponding period of previous year.
The prices of other phosphatic fertilizers flared up as follows as compared to previous week: Nitro Phosphate (0.39 per cent), S.SP. Phosphate (GR) (0.75 per cent), S.SP. (PD) (0.59 per cent), and T.SP. Phosphate (GR) (2.76 per cent).
Besides, Ammonium Sulphate became dearer by 0.28 per cent (Rs28 per bag). But three fertilizers also became cheaper as follows: Urea Sona (0.34per cent), Urea Kisan (0.22 per cent) and C. Ammonium Nitrate (0.77 per cent).