ISLAMABAD: Sensitive Price Index (SPI)-based inflation increased by 0.62 percent for the week ended August 28, 2025, driven by rising prices in essential items like tomatoes, wheat flour, and chicken, reversing a brief mid-month decline.
After recording a nominal decline in the third week of August, the SPI resumed its upward trajectory in the last week of the month. Notable price hikes were observed in several commodities, including tomatoes (14.98 percent), wheat flour (12.11 percent), chicken (3.36 percent), potatoes (1.52 percent), mustard oil (1.37 percent), eggs (1.03 percent), LPG (0.82 percent), cooked beef (0.81 percent), garlic (0.78 percent), lawn printed fabric (0.23 percent), firewood (0.17 percent), and long cloth (0.11 percent).
Conversely, prices of pulse mash declined by 0.43 percent, while pulse masoor and pulse gram each saw a reduction of 0.28 percent. Other decreases were recorded in bananas (0.12 percent), vegetable ghee (2.5 kg) by 0.10 percent, and onions by a marginal 0.01 percent.
Weekly SPI inflation up 0.31pc
During the week, out of 51 monitored items, prices of 18 (35.29 percent) increased, 6 (11.76 percent) decreased, and 27 (52.95 percent) remained stable.
On a year-on-year basis, the SPI rose by 3.57 percent. Significant increases were recorded in prices of ladies’ sandals (55.62 percent), gas charges for Q1 (29.85 percent), sugar (26.91 percent), beef (12.99 percent), gur (12.18 percent), bananas (11.78 percent), pulse moong (11.74 percent), firewood (11.47 percent), vegetable ghee (2.5 kg) (11.36 percent), vegetable ghee (1 kg) (10.89 percent), cooked beef (8.93 percent), and lawn printed fabric (7.64 percent).
Major price declines were seen in onions (49.31 percent), garlic (25.98 percent), pulse mash (23.39 percent), potatoes (19.96 percent), pulse gram (18.54 percent), electricity charges for Q1 (18.12 percent), Lipton tea (17.93 percent), pulse masoor (7.05 percent), rice IRRI-6/9 (5.47 percent), and LPG (3.70 percent).
Breaking down the SPI by income groups, the consumption group with monthly income up to Rs17,732 recorded an increase of 0.84 percent, reaching 321.28 points compared to 318.59 points in the previous week.
For the income bracket of Rs17,732 to Rs22,888, the SPI rose by 0.83 percent to 320.58 points, up from 317.95 points.
The group earning Rs22,889 to Rs29,517 saw an increase of 0.73 percent, with the SPI at 343.84 points against 341.36 points the week prior.
For the Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 income group, SPI rose by 0.69 percent to 331.69 points from 329.41 points.
Meanwhile, the monthly income group above Rs44,175 registered a 0.51 percent increase, with SPI standing at 330.28 points compared to 328.61 points previously.
Overall, the combined SPI for all expenditure groups was recorded at 331.14 points, marking a rise of 0.62 percent from 329.11 points recorded the previous week.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
