ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) increased by 0.04 per cent during the week ending Feb 26, over the previous week, according to weekly price review released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics here on Saturday.
As compared to the corresponding period of previous year, the index was up by 5.23 per cent. It rose to 113.21 with 2000-01 as the base year.
Further analysis of the data shows the highest increase in SPI for the poorest households with incomes up to Rs3,000 per month, with the index shooting up by 7.18pc over the past year.
A table showing group-wise figures shows that this income group incurred the highest increase in SPI for the food group - 0.09pc or, as compared to the corresponding period of previous year, by 7.81pc.
During the period under review, SPI for this income group registered an increase of 0.07pc over the previous week. It went up 0.06pc for households in the income bracket Rs3,001-5,000 and by 0.04pc each for those in the income bracket Rs5,001-12,000 and those with incomes above Rs12,000.
The rising cost of living, particularly for the poorest of the poor is crystallized by the list of 16 essential items that became dearer during the period under review. It includes wheat and wheat flour on which these households depend for survival.
Their rates climbed yet again - from Rs11.38 to Rs11.59 per kg (1.85pc) for wheat and from Rs12.33 to Rs12.48 per kg (1.22pc) for wheat flour. As compared to the same period of previous year, their rates have gone up by 25.30pc (as against 16.66pc increase in support price) and 18.18pc, respectively, in spite of high claims by the government functionaries about stemming the tide of the prices of this staple food.
The prices of remaining 14 items went up as follows:
Chicken farm (6.65pc), rice Irri-6 (1.65pc), garlic (1.48pc), vegetable ghee (loose) (1.46pc), bananas (1.32pc), beef (0.90pc), cooked beef (plate) (0.57pc), bread plain medium size (0.51pc), mutton (0.49pc), mash pulse washed (0.40pc), rice basmati broken (0.32pc), red chillies (powdered) (0.22pc), tea (prepared) (0.21pc), and washing soap (nylon) (0.13pc).
Out of 53 essential items constituting the SPI basket, the prices of the following 11 items decreased during the period under review as compared to previous week:
Onions (-13.47pc), tomatoes (-11.62pc), egg (farm) (-9.72pc), potatoes (-4.48pc), sugar (-0.83pc), gur (-0.80pc), LPG (11 kg. cylinder) (-0.48pc), tea (packet) (-0.38pc), mustard oil (-0.37pc), kerosene oil (-0.12pc) and moong pulse washed (-0.04pc).
CEMENT: The period under review saw a decline of 0.02pc in the average price of cement, based on data collected from eight cities.
A significant development is that its maximum price, having risen to Rs235 over the past couple of weeks in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, climbed down to Rs232.50 per 50 kg bag in those cities. But it moved up in Lahore where its prevailing rate was Rs235. It was Rs230 in Quetta, Rs225 in Multan, Rs224.83 in Peshawar, Rs217 in Karachi, and Rs210 in Hyderabad.
FERTILIZERS: During the period under review, the rate of S.SP. Phosphate (GR) decreased by 0.33pc as compared to previous week. It went up further in respect of five other fertilizers as follows:
Urea Sona (0.29pc), Dia Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) (1.77pc), Nitro Phosphate (1.97pc), T.SP. Phosphate (GR) (2.68pc), C. Ammonium Nitrate (0.51pc).