Kitchen items’ prices witnesses nominal increase of 0.04%

Islamabad: The prices of essential kitchen items increased as the weekly inflation measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), witnessed an increase of 0.04 per cent for the combined consumption groups during the week ended on February 15.

According the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the SPI for the week under review in the above-mentioned group was recorded at 315.31 points as compared to 315.18 points during the past week.

As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 30.68 per cent.

The weekly SPI with the base year 2015-16 =100 covers 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.

The SPI for the lowest consumption group up to Rs. 17,732, decreased by 0.08 percent and went down to 307.99 points from last week’s 307.73 points.

The SPI for consumption groups from Rs17,732-22,888 and Rs22,889-29,517 decreased by 0.03 and 0.01 percent, where as the SPI for the income groups Rs29,518-44,175 increased by 0.02 and above Rs44,175 by 0.09 respectively.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 23 (45.10%) items increased, 08 (21.51%) items decreased and 20 (39.21%) items remained stable.

The items, which recorded a decrease in their average prices on a week-on-week basis included onions (14.42%), eggs (11.19%), LPG (1.82%), cooking Oil 5 Litre (0.75%), wheat flour (0.36%), mustard oil (0.33%), potatoes (0.23%) and vegetable ghee 1 kg. (0.11%).

The items that recorded an increase in their average prices on a week-on-week basis included  tomatoes (22.71%), bananas (7.40%), diesel (3.02%), chicken (1.22%), petrol (1.00%), sugar (0.87%), mutton (0.86%), beef (0.74%), curd (0.71%), pulse moong (0.54%), firewood (0.20%) and georgette (0.14%).

On year on year basis, the prices of commodities, which witnessed increasing trend in their respective prices included gas charges for ( 480.00%), tomatoes (199.93%), chilies powder (81.74%), wheat flour (65.29%), gents sponge chappal (58.05%), gents sandal (53.37%), sugar (50.84%), gur (48.96%), gur (48.96%), salt Powdered (39.97%), garlic (36.31%) energy saver (34.17%),

While, the prices of commodities that observed decrease including bananas (17.73%), vegetable ghee 1 KG (17.26%), mustard oil (15.98%), cooking oil 5 Litre (13.66%), vegetable Ghee 2.5 KG (12.02%), LPG (9.42%) and eggs (5.33%).