Pakistan’s weekly inflation fell by 0.46 per cent in the week ended November 12, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said, as a sharp drop in petrol and diesel prices pulled the overall index down.
The Sensitive Price Indicator, which tracks the prices of essential items on a weekly basis, declined to 372.90 points from 374.61 points in the previous week. On a year-on-year basis, however, the indicator was still 11.21 per cent higher than the same week last year.
According to the bureau, the weekly fall was driven mainly by lower fuel prices. Petrol became cheaper by 7.42 per cent during the week, while diesel fell by 6.10 per cent. Onions also became cheaper by 1.70 per cent, bananas by 1.03 per cent and sugar by 0.43 per cent.
Despite the overall decline, the prices of 19 essential items rose during the week, while nine became cheaper and 23 remained unchanged. Tomatoes recorded the highest weekly rise, of 12.06 per cent, followed by eggs at 5.98 per cent, potatoes at 2.42 per cent and garlic at 1.76 per cent.
Chicken became dearer by 1.32 per cent, firewood by 1.10 per cent, wheat flour by 0.94 per cent, pulse masoor by 0.64 per cent, beef by 0.47 per cent and liquefied petroleum gas by 0.30 per cent, the bureau’s data showed.
On a year-on-year basis, the pressure on household budgets remained severe. LPG prices were 111.35 per cent higher than a year ago, tomatoes 78.94 per cent, electricity charges for the first quarter 52.38 per cent, wheat flour 36.14 per cent, diesel 30.77 per cent and petrol 26.23 per cent.
Some relief was visible in the annual comparison as well. Potato prices were 36.41 per cent lower than a year earlier, sugar 24.54 per cent lower and eggs 23.29 per cent lower, according to the bureau.
The Sensitive Price Indicator is computed every week to assess short-term price movements, and covers 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities across the country. The index uses 2015-16 as its base year, and the latest reading suggests that fuel prices offered some respite this week, even as food prices continued to climb for many households.
