Cash-strapped Pakistan recorded a new high in inflation as prices rose significantly in the outgoing week, both on on-year and on-week bases, mainly led by onions, chicken, cooking oil and a massive jump in fuel prices, official data showed on Friday.
As a result, short-term inflation, measured by Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), jumped to 38.42 % on a year-on-year basis for the week ended on February 16, rising from 34.83% in the previous week, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said.
The hike in prices is the highest annual rise since the week ending September 15, 2022, when the SPI inflation was 40.6%.
The week-on-week inflation also jumped to 2.89% from 0.17% a week ago. Of the 51 items tracked, the prices of 34 items increased, five items decreased, whereas those of 12 items remained unchanged.
The 2.89% weekly reading is the highest since October 27, when the week-on-week change in prices was 4.13%, official data showed. Prices also soared compared to previous week after massive fuel rate hike
The PBS data showed that the SPI increased by 2.45% for the lowest-income group (i.e. people earning below Rs17,732 per month) and by 2.94% for the group with a monthly income of more than Rs44,175. (www.dawn.com)