Petroleum prices push inflation to record high of 38.4%
A massive hike in the price of petroleum products and foodstuff drove the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) to a record high of 38.42% year-on-year (YoY) for the week ending on February 16.
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released on Friday, the last week saw short-term inflation rise to 34.83% year-on-year.
On a week-on-week basis, the SPI increased 2.89% compared to a rise of 0.17% in the preceding week.
It is pertinent to note that this is the highest weekly rise since October 27, 2022.
The SPI monitors the prices of 51 essential items based on a survey of 50 markets in 17 cities across the country.
During the week under review, the prices of 34 items increased and five decreased while 12 remained unchanged.
The highest year-on-year rise was for onions for 433.44%, chicken 101.86%, diesel: 81.36%, eggs: 81.22% and rice (Irri-6/9) 74.12%.
As per the data, highest year-on-year fall was recorded for tomatoes with 65.3%, chili powder 7.42% while electricity for group earning up to Rs17,732 per month rose by 7.5%.
The highest week-on-week rise inlcuded petrol: 8.82%, cooking oil 5 litres at 8.65%, ghee 1 kg: 8.02%, chicken: 7.49% and diesel 6.49%.
The highest week-on-week fall was recorded for tomatoes 14.27%, onions: 13.48%, eggs 4.24%, garlic: 2.1% and flour 0.1%.
