Short-Term Inflation Spikes as Budget Measures Take Effect

The Sensitive Price Index (SPI)-based inflation for the week ended July 4, 2024, increased by 1.28 percent attributable to measures taken in the budget 2024-25, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 29 (56.86 percent) items increased, 05 (9.80 percent) items decreased and 17 (33.34 percent) items remained stable. Some of the items, prices of which, increased during the period under review include tomatoes (70.77 percent), wheat flour bag 20 kg (10.57 percent),  hi-speed diesel (3.6 percent), petrol super (2.9 percent), pulse gram (2.87 percent), pulse moong (2.86 percent), chicken (2.40 percent), LPG (1.63 percent), garlic (1.54 percent), pulse masoor (1.1 percent), sugar (0.93 percent), rice irri-6/9 (0.7 percent), rice basmati broken (0.67 percent), pulse mash 0.65 percent), curd (0.56 percent), tea prepared (0.35 percent), mustard oil (0.32 percent), beef with bone (0.25 percent), chilies powder (0.12 percent), mutton (0.08 percent), salt powdered (0.04 percent) and cooked daal (0.01 percent). Items prices of which decreased during the period under review include onions (9.05 percent), potatoes (1.04 percent), eggs (0.79 percent), bananas (0.60 percent), and bread plain (0.02 percent). The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 23.59 percent mainly due to an increase in the prices of gas charges for q1 (570 percent), tomatoes (161.12 percent), onions (79.04 percent), chilies powder (55.00 percent), garlic (36.13 percent), pulse gram (32.45 percent), salt powder (29.54 percent), shirting (27.08 percent), pulse moong (26.40 percent), powdered milk (25.78 percent), gents sandal (25.01 percent), pulse mash (22.21 percent), beef (21.95 percent), electricity charges for q1 (21.46 percent) and LPG (21.15 percent) while a decrease was observed in the prices of wheat flour (28.25 percent), chicken (28.23 percent), cooking oil 5 litre (15.17 percent), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (12.54 percent), vegetable ghee 1 kg (11.49 percent), mustard oil (8.31 percent), bananas (4.52 percent), tea lipton (2.52 percent) and rice basmati broken (1.35 percent).