KARACHI: The government’s inability to keep prices in check has severely reduced the Pakistanis’ purchasing power as the 220 million-people country’s lower and medium income groups continue to be hit hardest by the record-high inflation.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), in its weekly bulletin, reported that the weekly inflation rose by 46.82% year-on-year and 0.15% week-on-week during the seven-day period ending on April 27.
The rise in the prices of potatoes (8.22%), chicken (1.75%), wheat flour (1.55%), gur (1.23%), bread (1.13%), and rice irri-6/9 (1.01%) was cited as the cause of the sensitive pricing index (SPI)’s rise.
On the other hand, major decrease was observed in the prices of: Tomatoes — 19.20%, Bananas 5.39%, Onions — 1.40%, Sugar — 1.19%, LPG — 1.09%, Pulse masoor — 0.98%, and Mustard oil — 0.39%.
For the week under review, SPI was recorded at 252.20 points against 251.83 points registered last week and 171.78 points recorded during the week ended on April 28, 2022.
PBS compiles SPI via collecting prices of 51 essential items from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country.
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 21 (41.17%) items increased, seven (13.73%) items decreased and prices of 23 (45.10%) items remained unchanged.
