Short-term inflation surges to 11.38pc due to costly food

ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation rose to 11. 38 per cent year-on-year in the week ending October 15, driven largely by higher food prices , according to official data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday. Of the 51 essential items monitored during the week, prices of 23 commodities (45. 10pc) increased, while those of seven items (13. 72pc) declined, the data showed. Meanwhile, the prices of 21 items (41. 18pc) remained unchanged from the previous week. Short-term inflation has remained in double digits for several consecutive weeks, largely on the back of persistent increases in petroleum prices. The Sensitive Price Index (SPI), which tracks short-term inflation, slightly fell 0. 04pc week-on-week, reflecting price fluctuations in both food and non-food items.

Unwilling to ease the petroleum levy, the government has continued to raise petrol and diesel prices on a daily basis. The surge in energy costs is not only fuelling inflationary pressures but also indirectly boosting sales tax collections through higher prices of goods and services. This is cost-push inflation, in which rising energy costs are followed by increases in food prices. As a result, households are under pressure from higher consumer prices. The index, which comprises 51 items whose prices are collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is calculated weekly to track changes in the prices of essential commodities and services. The items whose prices increased the most over the previous week included pulse gram (4. 97pc), wheat flour (3. 36pc), chicken (3. 31pc), eggs (0. 99pc), pulse mash (0. 98pc), pulse masoor (0. 95pc), firewood (0. 69pc), shirting (0. 58pc), cooked daal (0. 55pc), diesel (0. 47pc), LPG (0. 42pc) and tea prepared (0. 28pc). The items whose prices declined week-on-week included…