SPI inflation soars

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: SPI inflation surged 3.38 percent week-on-week and 27.82 percent year-on-year hitting a 14-year high during the week ended June 16 on jumbo increase in petroleum products prices.
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data issued on Friday showed that prices of 71 percent of the commodities in the sensitive price index (SPI) basket shot up. Increase was observed in the prices of diesel (28.91 percent), gents sponge chappal (26.76 percent), gents sandal (15.40 percent), chicken (12.10 percent ), petrol (11.43 percent), potatoes (6.89 percent), electricity charges for Q1 (6.63 percent), cigarettes (6.27 percent), cooked daal (5.90 percent), pulse gram (5.29 percent) and cooked beef (5.19 percent). The joint impact of increase in prices of these commodities was 2.53 percent in overall SPI for the combined group.
According to PBS data, hi-speed diesel (HSD) now stands at Rs264.17/litre, up from Rs204.93/litre last week, and Rs113.57/litre during the same period last year. Petrol stands at Rs234.71/litre, up from Rs210.63/litre last week, and Rs111.68/litre last year. Since the coalition government took power, diesel price has surged by 82 percent, with petrol price up 56 percent.
In the SPI basket, petrol weightage stands at 6.7 percent, while HSD stands at 0.087 percent for the combined group.
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 36 (70.59 percent) items increased, 6 (11.76 percent) items decreased and 9 (17.65 percent) items remained stable.