KARACHI: The News reported on Saturday that during the seven-day period ending February 2, 2023, the sensitive price indicator (SPI) inflation reached a 14-week high of 2.83 percent week-on-week due to a significant rise in the prices of LPG and gasoline.
The percentage increased to a 20-week high of 34.49 percent year-over-year, with expectations that it would reach 40 percent in the next fortnight following another rise in petroleum prices.
The WoW increase in SPI was attributed, according to data released on Friday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), to an increase in the prices of basic food items like garlic (17.07 percent), pulse gram (7.10%), bananas (4.75%), chicken (4.37%), pulse mash (3.93%), pulse masoor (3.91%), mustard oil (3.47%), eggs (3.42%), pulse moong (2.33%), sugar (2.32%), vegetable ghee 1 kg (2.13%), LPG (17.61 percent), gasoline (16.22 percent), and diesel (15.30 percent) are non-food items.
The potato was the only commodity whose price decreased, falling to 0.37 cents per kilogram.
Zareena, a maid who lives in the People’s Colony area of Karachi, stated that her five family members require 1 kilogram of fine wheat flour each day. She continued, “she hardly earned Rs16,000/month after breaking her back the entire day in different homes.” “I am buying it at Rs120/kg from the nearby store, while the short rice that we buy is now being sold at Rs190/kg.”
She criticized, stating, “And it is not just food that I have to worry about, with gas load-shedding, I now have to buy LPG, which is now Rs300/kg.”
Zareena continued, “I can no longer afford to go see a doctor for my health issues, as I cannot afford the doctor’s fee nor the diagnostic fee that is required for the ultrasound and blood work.”
An 11.67kg LPG cylinder now costs Rs3,396.85, up Rs508.74 from Rs2,888.11 the previous week and Rs1,034.05 from Rs2,362.80 the previous week. The price increased by 17.61% week-over-week and 43.76% year-over-year.
According to Fahad Rauf, head of research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, the primary factor that contributed to the rise in SPI was the rise in the prices of LPG and gasoline.
The price of diesel and gasoline in Pakistan increased by Rs35 per liter over the course of the week. Due to massive currency devaluation and potential tax increases, the next fortnightly review, scheduled for February 15, 2023, is expected to see further increases in gasoline prices.
Rauf noted, “The government is expected to make further adjustments to unlock the IMF program as the inflationary pressures are expected to intensify.”
for organizations that spend up to Rs17,732; Rs17,733-22,888; Rs22,889-29,517; Rs29,518-44,175; in excess of Rs44,175; SPI for WoW went up by 1.71, 1.99, 2.17, 2.47, and 3.30 percent, respectively. SPI increased by 31.33, 32.26, 34.54, 36.04, and 35.47 percent year over year for these groups, respectively.
This demonstrated that, on a WoW basis, SPI had the greatest impact on those who spent more than Rs44,175; however, those whose spending capacities were between Rs29,518 and Rs44,175 experienced the greatest YoY impact.
The PBS data give the SPI basket of commodities different weights. Milk (17.5449 percent), electricity (8.3627 percent), wheat flour (6.1372 percent), sugar (5.1148 percent), firewood (5.0183 percent), long cloth (4.2221%), and vegetable ghee (3.2833%) are the commodities with the highest weights for the group with the lowest spending capacity.
Except for long cloth and electricity, the prices of these commodities all increased.
The SPI was 227.79 points, up from 221.54 points the week before and 169.37 points the week that ended on February 3, 2022.
