Inflation continues to be a major concern for Pakistan as the country faces a surge in prices for basic necessities. The rates of essential items continued to rise across the country as the spiralling inflation rate hit a new peak of 45.64% on a yearly basis, otherwise known as the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), and increased by 0.96% in the previous week. The rise in inflation has put a strain on the average Pakistani citizen, who was already struggling with economic crisis.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday that during the week ending March 16, 2023, the cost of 28 necessities increased, 11 decreased, and 12 remained unchanged. The cost of basic goods, including boiled fresh milk, curd, potatoes, sugar, tomatoes, flour, beef, cooking oil, energy-saver products, tea, and rice, went up. Onions, chicken, garlic, eggs, LPG, dal mash, dal chana, dal masoor, and dal mung, on the other hand, saw a decrease in price.
On a yearly basis, following prices increased:
- Onions increased by 233.89%
- Cigarettes by 165.86%
- Gas charges for Q1 by 108.38%
- Diesel by 102.84%
- Branded tea by 81.29%
- Petrol by 81.17%
- Rice irri-6/9 by 78.75%
- Rice basmati broken by 78.10%
- Bananas by 77.84%
- Eggs by 72.19%
- Pulse moong by 69.44%
- Wheat flour by 56.27%
- Bread by 55.36%.
The prices of tomatoes declined by 21.87% and powdered chillies by 7.42% on a yearly basis.
During the week, the prices of 11 essential items went down, including;
- Onions by 15.91%
- Chicken meat by 5.97%
- Garlic by 5.73%
- Pulse masoor by 2.27%
- Eggs by 2.26%
- LPG by 1.90%
- One kilogramme of vegetable ghee by 1.39%
- Pulse gramme by 1.24%
- Pulse mash by 1.08%
- Pulse moong by 0.84%
- Mustard oil by 0.64%.
