ISLAMABAD: Inflation for the combined income group went slightly up by 0.41 per cent for the week ended on August 16 as compared to the previous week, mainly due to rise in prices of perishable and oil products.

The weekly inflation, mea­sured through the Sen­sitive Price Index (SPI), increased for the past two consecutive weeks, according to data issued by Pakis­tan Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

SPI monitors the prices of 53 items based on a survey of 17 cities and 53 markets. Pri­ces of 18 items increased, nine items decreased while 26 ite­ms witnessed no cha­n­ge.

The impact of prices on various income groups also witnessed variations during the week under review.

For the lowest income group (earning up to Rs8,000 a month), SPI edged up 0.4pc over the previous week, while inflation for the top income earners (Rs35,000 and above) dropped by 0.41pc. On a yearly basis, SPI for the combined group witnessed a slight decline of 4.18pc.

The food items which noted increase in their prices included garlic 1.56pc, salt powder 1.47pc, gur 1.35pc, pulse gram 1.24pc, rice Irri-6 0.56pc, beef with bone 0.47pc, mutton 0.30pc, daal moong 0.26pc, daal masoor 0.25pc, rice basmati broken 0.21pc, red chilli powder 0.2pc, vegetable ghee loose 0.12pc, cooking oil 0.11pc, wheat 0.09pc.

Non-food items whose prices increased were LPG cylinder 11 kg 4.06pc, washing soap 2.09pc, and soap lifebuoy 0.57pc.

On the other hand, tomatoes dropped 16.34pc, chic­ken 6.61pc, onions 3.09pc, bananas 2.25pc, daal mash 1.1pc, potatoes 0.87pc, sugar 0.29pc, eggs 0.26pc and wheat flour bag 0.08pc.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2018