Islamabad: According to the latest report of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the pace of inflation in the country has increased for the third consecutive week. The report said that the overall inflation rate increased by 0.49 percent during the current week, while on an annual basis this rate has increased to 4.57 percent.
According to the data, the prices of 24 essential items increased during the last week, including flour, eggs, potatoes, onions, garlic, vegetable ghee, tomatoes and washing soup. On the contrary, the prices of 8 essential items such as chicken, moong dal, gram dal, banana, rice, petrol and diesel were recorded to decrease, while the prices of 19 items remained unchanged.
According to the report, the highest increase in tomato prices was recorded at 33.20 percent, followed by onion at 8.70 percent, eggs at 2.81 percent, flour at 1.42 percent, potatoes at 0.71 percent and vegetable ghee at 0.63 percent. Similarly, garlic at 0.85 percent and washing soup at 0.08 percent were seen.
On the other hand, chicken prices fell by 6.38 percent, moong dal at 0.49 percent, banana at 4.70 percent, gram dal at 2.20 percent, basmati broken rice at 0.51 percent, petrol at 2.09 percent and high-speed diesel at 0.55 percent.
Experts say that the repeated increase in food and fuel prices is increasing financial pressure on the middle class and there is a fear of further acceleration in the overall inflation rate.
| Item | Change (%) | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Tomato | 33.20 | Increase |
| Onion | 8.70 | Increase |
| Eggs | 2.81 | Increase |
| Flour (Atta) | 1.42 | Increase |
| Potato | 0.71 | Increase |
| Garlic | 0.85 | Increase |
| Vegetable Ghee | 0.63 | Increase |
| Washing Soap | 0.08 | Increase |
| Chicken | -6.38 | Decrease |
| Banana | -4.70 | Decrease |
| Petrol | -2.09 | Decrease |
| High Speed Diesel (HSD) | -0.55 | Decrease |
| Chana Dal | -2.20 | Decrease |
| Moong Dal | -0.49 | Decrease |
| Basmati Broken Rice | -0.51 | Decrease |
