Weekly Inflation Inches up Slightly as Food Prices Post Increase  

The Sensitive Price Index (SPI)-based inflation for the week ended December 12, 2024, increased by 0.07 percent due to increase in the prices of chicken (3.80 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (2.27 percent), bananas (1.99 percent), potatoes (1.93 percent), mustard oil (1.07 percent), and LPG (0.28 percent), says Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).  During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 18 (35.29 percent) items increased, 11 (21.57 percent) items decreased and 22 (43.14 percent) items remained stable.  The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 3.71 percent mainly due to an increase in the prices of pulse gram (59.55 percent), pulse moong (36.44 percent), potatoes (36.16 percent), powdered milk (25.74 percent), beef (23.82 percent), tomatoes (20.51 percent), garlic (15.97 percent), gas charges for Q1 (15.52 percent), cooked daal (14.85 percent), shirting (14.54 percent) and firewood (12.05 percent).  On the other hand, major decrease was observed in the prices of wheat flour (35.88 percent), chilies powder (20.00 percent), diesel (10.77 percent), petrol (10.33 percent), pulse masoor (10.26 percent), onions (8.92 percent), rice basmati broken (7.46 percent), electricity charges for Q1 (6.96 percent), sugar (6.52 percent), bread (5.99 percent) and tea lipton (5.09 percent).