Weekly inflation eases to 11.21% but tomatoes, eggs and flour cost more
Cheaper petrol pulled the SPI down 0.46% in the week to 12 November, yet the poorest households saw prices rise. Which items went up, and by how much.
Weekly inflation in Pakistan eased to 11.21% in the week ending Thursday, 12 November, down from 12.31% a week earlier, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Friday. Prices fell 0.46% in one week, almost entirely because petrol and diesel got cheaper, while tomatoes, eggs, potatoes, chicken and flour all cost more.
What is the SPI?
The Sensitive Price Indicator tracks 51 everyday items in 50 markets across 17 cities, every week. It is the closest official measure of what a family pays at the shop and the pump. This week the index stood at 372.90 points, down from 374.61, according to the PBS figures reported by APP and ARY News.
Of the 51 items, 19 got dearer, 9 got cheaper and 23 did not change.
What got more expensive this week
- Tomatoes: up 12.06%
- Eggs: up 5.98%
- Potatoes: up 2.42%
- Garlic: up 1.76%
- Chicken: up 1.32%
- Firewood: up 1.10%
- Wheat flour: up 0.94%
- Masoor dal: up 0.64%
Beef and LPG also rose slightly.
What got cheaper
Petrol fell 7.42% and diesel 6.10% over the week, after the government’s run of price cuts this month. Onions, bananas, gur, sugar, powdered milk, moong and gram dal were all a little cheaper too.
Why the poorest felt no relief
This is the detail that matters most. The PBS splits the index by monthly spending. For households spending up to Rs17,732 a month, prices went up 0.03% this week. For those spending more than Rs44,175, they fell 0.68%.
The likely reason: poorer families spend more of their money on food and fuel for cooking, and less on petrol for cars and bikes. So a petrol cut helps them less, while dearer tomatoes, eggs and flour hit them harder.
A year on, the gap is bigger
Compared with the same week last year, LPG costs 111.35% more, tomatoes 78.94% more, electricity charges for the lowest-use group 52.38% more and wheat flour 36.14% more. Diesel is 30.77% higher and petrol 26.23% higher, even after this month’s cuts.
Some things are cheaper than a year ago: potatoes are down 36.41%, sugar 24.54% and eggs 23.29%, despite this week’s rise.
Dawn reported that short-term inflation has stayed in double digits for several weeks, mainly because of fuel prices, and called it cost-push inflation, where energy costs feed into food prices. The paper said the record jump in LPG prices has added to the pressure.
What to watch next
Petrol was cut again to Rs330 a litre from Saturday, 14 November, with diesel unchanged at Rs360, according to the government notification reported by Business Recorder. That cut falls in next week’s SPI, expected on Friday, 20 November, so the headline number may ease again. Whether tomato and egg prices settle is the bigger question for most kitchens.
