Prices of essential items rise by 20% on first POL rate jump

Prices of essential items rise by 20% on first POL rate jump

ISLAMABAD: The prices of essential items recorded an increase of 20 per cent owing to first jump in petroleum prices announced a week ago, official documents revealed on Friday.

The inflation based on Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) has increased by 20.04 per cent on year on year basis by week ended June 02, 2022, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

READ MORE: Pakistan’s headline inflation up by 13.8% in May 2022

On week on week (WoW) basis the SPI recorded a two percent for the week ended June 02, 2022 over the previous week ended May 06, 2022.

The SPI determines the price fluctuation in basic kitchen items on weekly basis. The Sensitive Price Indicator comprises 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities.

The latest surge in prices of essential items is the result of increase in prices of petroleum products that were announced on May 26, 2022 and effective from May 27, 2022.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s inflation sharply up by 13.4% in April 2022

The federal government on May 26, 2022 announced a sharp increase of Rs30 per cent liter each on all petroleum products.

The price hike in essential items likely to rise alarmingly and may reflect in the SPI of next week ended June 9, 2022 as the government again increased the prices of petroleum products on June 02, 2022.

According to the PBS, the SPI for the current week ended on June 02, 2022 recorded an increase of 2 per cent.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s headline inflation increases by 12.7% in March

Increase observed in the prices of food items Potatoes (9.08 per cent), Eggs (6.38 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 1 kg (4.59 per cent), Bread (2.72 per cent), Mustard Oil (2.65 per cent), Pulse Masoor (2.33 per cent), Cooking Oil 5 litre (2.18 per cent), Pulse Gram (1.99 per cent), Sugar (1.93 per cent), Cooked Beef & Pulse Mash (1.69 per cent) each, Vegetable Ghee 2.5 kg (1.51 per cent) and Bananas (1.35 per cent), non-food items Hi-Speed Diesel (20.69 per cent), Petrol Super(19.91 per cent) and Toilet Soap (1.40 per cent) with joint impact of (2.09 per cent) into the overall SPI for combined group of (2.00 per cent).

On the other hand, decrease observed in the prices of Chicken (4.68 per cent ), Garlic (2.75 per cent), Wheat Flour (1.91 per cent), Tomatoes (1.26 per cent) and LPG (0.74 per cent).

READ MORE: Food inflation rural increases by 14.6% in February 2022

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 28 (54.90 per cent) items increased, 05 (9.81 per cent) items decreased and 18 (35.29 per cent) items remained stable.

The year on year trend depicts an increase of 20.04 per cent, Onions (177.62 per cent), Tomatoes (152.57 per cent), Mustard Oil (70.50 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 1 Kg (68.02 per cent), Garlic (67.44 per cent), Pulse Masoor (66.92 per cent), Petrol (64.78 per cent), Cooking Oil 5 litre (64.72 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 2.5 Kg (62.43 per cent), LPG (60.14 per cent), Diesel (56.45 per cent) and Washing Soap (42.92 per cent), while major decrease observed in the prices of Chillies Powdered (43.42 per cent), Pulse Moong (21.62 per cent), Electricity charges for Q1 (11.71 per cent), Sugar (11.16 per cent), Bananas (9.95 per cent), Potatoes (6.89 per cent) and Gur (1.46 per cent).