The Sensitive Price Index (SPI)-based inflation for the week ending December 5, 2024, recorded a 0.34% decrease, primarily driven by a significant drop in the prices of essential food items, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Key contributors to the decline included a sharp reduction in the prices of tomatoes (25.15%), chicken (9.90%), pulse mash (1.67%), pulse gram (0.73%), wheat flour (0.71%), pulse masoor (0.46%), and LPG (0.19%).
Out of the 51 items monitored during the week, prices of 18 items (35.29%) increased, 10 items (19.61%) decreased, while 23 items (45.10%) remained stable.
On a year-on-year basis, inflation increased by 3.57%, driven by significant price hikes in key commodities. The largest increases were observed in the prices of pulse gram (65.64%), pulse moong (37.83%), powdered milk (25.74%), beef (23.77%), tomatoes (17.93%), garlic (17.44%), potatoes (17.31%), gas charges for Q1 (15.52%), shirting (15.03%), cooked daal (15.02%), and georgette fabric (13.07%).
Major Price Declines
Conversely, significant year-on-year price reductions were recorded for wheat flour (35.40%), chili powder (20.00%), diesel (10.77%), petrol (10.33%), pulse masoor (9.66%), basmati broken rice (7.86%), tea (7.53%), chicken (7.34%), electricity charges for Q1 (6.96%), bread (5.99%), and onions (4.55%).
The weekly decline in inflation offers some relief to consumers, particularly due to the drop in food prices.
