ISLAMABAD, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The weekly inflation of Pakistan, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), surged by 44.64 percent on a year-on-year basis, said official statistics.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released a SPI report on Friday saying that the SPI was computed weekly to assess the price movement of essential commodities at shorter intervals of time to review the price situation in the country.
The PBS said that the SPI was calculated to measure the price movement of important commodities and it comprised 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities across the country.
The PBS data revealed that the prices of gas, tomatoes, cigarettes, chili powder, garlic, wheat flour, sugar, rice, brown sugar and eggs were recorded during the week ending on Jan. 18, 2024, compared to the corresponding period last year.
On the other hand, the prices of mustard oil, onions, cooking oil, bananas and others decreased during the same period.
According to the statistics, the SPI rose slightly by 0.34 percent on a week-on-week basis with a main rise observed in the prices of onions, tomatoes, energy savers, chicken, garlic, bananas, eggs, matchboxes and others.
The prices of potatoes, petrol, sugar, black tea, cooking oil, wheat flour and brown sugar dropped on a week-on-week basis, said the PBS. ■
