Weekly Inflation Crosses 44% Due to Higher Gas, Food Prices

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the current week ended on January 11, 2024, increased by 44.16 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday. This is the ninth straight week that the weekly inflation reading has come over 40 percent. However, this week’s YoY reading is the highest not just in the past nine weeks but the highest since May 25, 2023. The YoY trends depict an increase mainly due to an increase in gas charges for Q1 (1108.59 percent), tomatoes (155.83 percent), sugar (57.20 percent), and wheat flour (55.26 percent). The SPI for the current week increased by 1.36 percent over the previous week. Major increase is observed in the prices of tomatoes (15.63 percent), onions (8.94 percent), chicken (6.42 percent), electricity charges for Q1 (5.11 percent), and eggs (4.31 percent). During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 21 (41.18 percent) items increased, 08 (15.68 percent) items decreased and 22 (43.14 percent) items remained stable.