Rising food and fuel prices increased weekly inflation to 1.35%

Pakistanis continue to suffer throughout the holy month of Ramadan as weekly inflation increased by 1.35% owing to rising food and fuel prices.

The weekly inflation increased by 1.35% that ended on March 14 due to rising food and fuel prices. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), sensitive price indicator (SPI) inflation has increased over the last month and reached 32.89% year compared to the same times last year.

The SPI, which tracks 51 items, revealed that 18 products were more expensive, 10 became cheaper, and 23 remained steady for this week. Prices for the following products increased by a significant amount:

Food Items	Increased prices (%)
Bananas	21.76
Tomatoes	21.96
Eggs	7.15
Onions	5.57
Garlic	3.62
Mutton	1.74
Beef	1.53
Chicken	1.4

Apart from food prices, non-food product prices also increased including LPG by 4.45%. Georgette fabric by 1.04%, Shirts by 1.01%, and Long clothes by 0.94% are among other hike priced products.

Meanwhile, cooking oil (5 liters), vegetable ghee (2.5kg), and wheat flour fell by 1% in price. Sugar prices also decreased by 0.64%, gur by 0.57%, rice (basmati broken) by 0.50%, pulse masoor by 0.17%, and pulse mash by 0.15% in the previous week.

Rising food and fuel prices increased weekly inflation to 1.35%

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Change in SPI percentage by income group showed that rising food and fuel prices increased for two groups. SPI rose by 27.83% for people making up to Rs 17,732 over a month. And by 28.9% for people making over Rs 44,175 a month.

On the other hand, SPI shows that in the first quarter of 2024, gas prices increased by a massive 570%. Moreover, tomatoes rose by 186%, onions by 90%, and chili powder by 82% compared to last year.

In addition, men’s sponge chappal rose by 58% and men’s shoes by 53%. However, wheat flour increased by 52%, gur by 41%, sugar by 37%, and salt powder by 35%.