Weekly Inflation Soars by 30% Due to Expensive Food
Published on: November 4, 2023.
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Short-term Inflation in Pakistan Rises Due to Increasing Kitchen Product Prices
In the week ending on November 2, short-term inflation in Pakistan surged by 29.88% compared to the same period last year. This increase is primarily attributed to the rising prices of kitchen products, according to official data released on Friday.
The weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), also saw a 0.71% increase on a week-on-week basis. The SPI rate had been decelerating over the past week after showing a steady increase for five consecutive weeks.
The caretaker government decided to maintain the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel for the current fortnight, disappointing consumers who were hoping for a significant reduction. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had recommended a notable decline, but the interim government chose to keep fuel prices unchanged at high levels.
Out of the 51 items in the SPI basket, the prices of 12 items increased, while 14 items recorded a decrease. The prices of 25 items remained unchanged compared to the previous week.
During the week under review, the items that experienced the highest price increases compared to the same week of the previous year were gas charges for Q1 (108.38%), cigarettes (94.46%), chillies powder (84.11%), rice basmati broken (78.08%), wheat flour (76.51%), sugar (62.60%), rice Irri-6/9 (62.27%), gents sponge chappal (58.05%), tea Lipton (55.79%), garlic (54.51%), and gur (53.53%).
The largest week-on-week price increases were observed in tomatoes (25.58%), onions (25.25%), chicken (10.79%), potatoes (1.61%), tea Lipton (1.58%), eggs (1.30%), garlic (0.50%), rice basmati broken (0.19%), georgette (0.28%), and firewood (0.05%).
Back in May, the SPI remained above 45% for three weeks after reaching an all-time high of 48.35% on May 4th. The depreciation of the Pakistani rupee, rising petrol prices, sales tax, gas bills, and electricity bills are key factors contributing to this inflationary trend.
Meanwhile, on a week-on-week basis, the prices of gur dropped by 2.66%, bananas by 1.78%, cooking oil (5-litre) by 1.62%, vegetable ghee (1 kg) by 1.23%, LPG cylinder by 1.05%, pulse masoor by 0.93%, wheat flour by 0.62%, washing soap by 0.41%, and mustard oil by 0.32%.
Conclusion
Short-term inflation in Pakistan has risen significantly due to the increasing prices of kitchen products. The SPI rate experienced a weekly increase, breaking its previous decelerating trend. The caretaker government’s decision to maintain high fuel prices disappointed consumers. The prices of various items in the SPI basket have shown notable increases compared to previous years, with tomatoes and onions seeing the highest week-on-week price gains.
Pakistan, being a major player in rice exports, is closely monitoring these inflationary trends. To learn more about rice exporters in Pakistan and their prices, you can visit HAS Rice Pakistan and Pakistan Rice.
Source: Dawn
