Surge in inflation: Price of tomatoes, eggs, 28 other items increase

• Among non-food items, prices of diesel, petrol, electricity for Q1 rose by 6.04%, 5.78% and 2.74%.
• Meanwhile, price of sugar decrease by 9.35% during the week that ended on November 11.
  
• On a year-on-year basis, the inflation based on the SPI increased 17.37%.

KARACHI: The weekly inflation, based on the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), for the week that ended on November 11 registered an increase of 1.81% for the combined income group, going up from 164.53 points during the week that ended on November 4 to 167.5 points in the week under review.

According to the provisional figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the average prices of 30 essential items, including tomatoes, diesel, petrol, cooking oil, vegetable ghee, potatoes, etc., rose during the outgoing week.

Prices of six items, including sugar, pulse mash and wheat flour bag declined. Meanwhile, the rates of 15 essential goods remained unchanged.

The bureau, in its weekly report, said that among food items, the price of tomatoes increased by a significant 18.7%. Meanwhile, a 5-litre tin of cooking oil, 1kg of  vegetable ghee, bananas, bread, eggs, potatoes and onions recorded an increase of 4.27%, 3.28%, 3.04%, 2.84%, 1.82%, 1.77%, and 1.51%, respectively.

Among non-food items, prices of diesel, petrol, electricity for Quarter 1 (Q1) rose by 6.04%, 5.78%, and 2.74%, respectively.

During the week under review, the price of sugar dropped by 9.35%, while the price of moong (pulse), wheat flour, and garlic recorded a decrease of 0.42%, 0.26% and 0.04%.

The SPI for the lowest income group increased by 1.55% compared to the previous week. The index for the group stood at 178.35 points against 175.63 points in the previous week.

On a year-on-year basis, the inflation based on the SPI increased 17.37%.