Pakistan's short-term inflation rises slightly

Pakistan’s short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), edged up by 0.38% in the week ending Dec 19, according to official data released on Friday.

The SPI index tracks the prices of 51 essential items gathered from 50 markets across 17 cities to assess the cost of living at shorter intervals.

This week saw significant price increases in tomatoes (56.66%), firewood (1.57%), garlic (1.40%), vegetable ghee (0.95%), cooking oil (0.79%), liquefied petroleum gas (0.71%), and sugar (0.23%).

Conversely, notable price decreases were observed in onions (4.16%), potatoes (3.83%), eggs (2.72%), diesel (1.17%), pulse gram (0.98%), and wheat flour (0.76%).

Year-on-year, the SPI index shows an inflation increase of 4.64%, highlighting ongoing price pressures on essential commodities.

In November, consumer inflation was 4.9%, and over the first five months of the fiscal year, it was 7.9%. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) mentioned in its monetary policy statement that inflation might be unpredictable for a while but will eventually stabilize within the target range. However, SBP is worried about persistent core inflation.