Weekly Inflation Report Shows Rising Pressure on Household Budgets

Islamabad: The inflationary pressure in the country has once again increased, where the inflation rate based on the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) was recorded to increase by 0.46% during the week, while the overall inflation rate on an annual basis has reached 15.28%.

According to the weekly report issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, there was an overall increase in the prices of essential commodities during the last week. The report states that the prices of 25 items increased, 11 items became cheaper, while no significant change was recorded in the prices of 15 items.

According to the report, the highest increase was seen in the price of tomatoes, which increased by 16.65 percent during the week. Similarly, potatoes became expensive by 6.82 percent and chicken by 5.60 percent. According to experts, the increase in the prices of vegetables and poultry products has put an additional financial burden on consumers in both urban and rural areas.

According to the data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the price of washing soap increased by 1.16 percent while the price of LPG increased by 0.51 percent. In addition, daily necessities like milk, yogurt, mutton and eggs also became expensive, which further increased household expenses.

On the other hand, a decrease in the prices of some items was also recorded. Onion became cheaper by 2.98 percent, garlic by 2.51 percent and bananas by 1.28 percent. Similarly, due to the decline in petroleum products, the price of diesel decreased by 1.06 percent and the price of petrol by 0.52 percent, which provided limited relief to consumers.

Economists say that the continuous fluctuation in the prices of food and energy-related items is affecting the overall inflation trend. According to them, if food prices do not stabilize, inflationary pressure may persist in the coming weeks.

Recent data indicates that although the prices of some basic commodities have decreased, overall inflation still remains a major challenge to the purchasing power of the common citizen.