- Decrease in the price of 20 articles out of 51 key consumer goods.
- The 5.5% largest decline witnessed the price of onions.
- The prices of gasoline and diesel fell respectively 0.24% and 2%.
Karachi: weekly inflation, measured by the sensitive price indicator (SPI), recorded a slight drop of 0.09% for the week ending on March 6, 2025, The news reported on Saturday.
The decline was mainly driven by the drop in prices for essential food and fuel.
The SPI, which follows the prices of 51 key consumer goods in 17 cities, showed that on these items, 20 reduced price reductions, 13 recorded increases, while 18 remained unchanged.
According to data published by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), a significant drop in food prices has contributed to the overall decrease in inflation.
The sharper declines were observed in onions (down 5.59%), Lipton tea (4.47%), garlic (3.89%), tomatoes (3.6%), the gram of pulses (3.49%), puree puree (2.82%), potatoes (2.6%) and the Masoor de Pouls (1.5%).
Diesel prices also experienced a slight decrease of 2% and gasoline fell 0.24%. Despite the overall drop, some essential products have recorded price increases. Bananas have experienced the highest increase, increasing by 9.79% of week on week (WOW).
Sugar prices increased by 3.15%, followed by LPG (2.64%), eggs (2.52%), sheep (0.33%) and wheat flour (0.22%). The prices of the long fabric and the GUR each increased by 0.17%, while cigarettes and beef experienced marginal increases of 0.06%.
On an annual basis (Yoy), the SPI fell by 0.87%, caused by a sharp drop in prices of several food staples. The most notable decreases were observed in onions (down 64.92%), tomatoes (57.05%), wheat flour (36.81%), pepper powder (20%), electricity costs for the first quarter (18.92%), tea (14.92%), Pulse chip (14.68%) (12.33%), Diesel (9.91), Rice Masoor (12.33%), Diesel (91%), Rice Masoor (12.33%), Diesel (9.91), Rice), broken basmati (9.55%), petrol (8.55%) and GPL (2.54%).
On the other hand, certain items have experienced a sharp increase in prices in annual sliding. The largest increase was women’s sandals, which jumped 75.09%. Other notable price increases were recorded in bananas (30.96%), pulse moong (26.9%), powdered milk (25.86%), beef (22.51%), gram of pulse (21.73%), vegetable ghee (16.122 for kilogram (13.52%), heating wood (11.07%) and fabric and fabric (11.07%) and Georgette (10.89%).
The weekly inflation trend varied between different income groups. The lowest quintile with the lowest experienced the highest decline by 0.20%, while the highest income group experienced a marginal drop of 0.03%.
On an annual basis, the lowest expenditure group experienced a significant drop of 2.47%, while the highest income group recorded a slight increase of 0.24%.