Short-term inflation clocks in at 11.21pc

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation rose to 11.21 per cent year-on-year in the week ending on Nov 12, driven largely by perishable food products, according to official data released by the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="link--external" href="https://www.pbs.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Executive-Summary-SPI-Report_12.11.2026.pdf">Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)</a> on Friday.</p> <p>The index, comprising 51 items, whose prices are collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is calculated weekly to track changes in the prices of essential commodities and services.</p> <p>The data showed that of the 51 essential items monitored during the week, the prices of 19 commodities (37.25pc) increased, while those of 9 items (17.65pc) declined. Meanwhile, the prices of 23 items (45.10pc) remained unchanged from the previous week.</p> <figure class='media w-full sm:w-1/2 media--right media--embed media--uneven' data-original-src='https://www.dawn.com/news/2029802'> <div class='media__item media__item--newskitlink '> <iframe class="nk-iframe" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="height:250px;position:relative" src="https://www.dawn.com/news/card/2029802" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms"></iframe></div> </figure> <p>Short-term inflation has remained in the double digits for several consecutive weeks, largely on the back of <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2024389">persistent increases</a> in petroleum and diesel prices. However, the oil prices have been <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2043820">slowly declining</a> for the past three consecutive days.</p> <p>The impact of this decline will be visible in the next review. However, the unprecedented increase in the LPG price caused short-term inflation to rise.</p> <p>The Sensitive Price Index (SPI), which tracks short-term inflation, slightly declined by 0.46pc week-on-week, reflecting price fluctuations in both food and non-food items.</p> <p>The surge in energy costs is not only fuelling inflationary pressures, but also indirectly boosting sales tax collections through higher prices of goods and services.</p> <figure class='media w-full sm:w-1/2 media--right media--embed media--uneven' data-original-src='https://www.dawn.com/news/2027864'> <div class='media__item media__item--newskitlink '> <iframe class="nk-iframe" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="height:250px;position:relative" src="https://www.dawn.com/news/card/2027864" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms"></iframe></div> </figure> <p>This is an example of cost-push inflation, in which rising energy costs lead to increases in food prices. As a result, households are facing mounting pressure from higher consumer prices.</p> <p>The items that recorded the highest price increases over the previous week included tomatoes (12.06pc), eggs (5.98pc), potatoes (2.42pc), garlic (1.76pc), chicken (1.32pc), firewood (1.10pc), wheat flour (0.94pc), pulse masoor (0.64pc), beef (0.47pc), and LPG (0.30pc).</p> <p>The items that recorded week-on-week price declines included petrol (7.42pc), diesel (6.10pc), onions (1.70pc), bananas (1.03pc), gur (0.59pc), sugar (0.43pc), powdered milk (0.36pc), pulse moong (0.32pc) and pulse gram (0.08pc).</p> <p>On an annual basis, the items that recorded the highest price increases included LPG (111.35pc), tomatoes (78.94pc), electricity for Q1 (52.38pc), wheat flour (36.14pc), diesel (30.77pc), petrol (26.23pc), onions (19.67pc), chilies powder (15.55pc), mutton (14.67pc), bread plain (12.35pc), beef (11.30pc) and chicken (10.98pc).</p> <p>In contrast, potato prices fell by 36.41pc, followed by sugar (24.54pc), eggs (23.29pc), salt powder (12.51pc), pulse masoor (7.21pc), pulse moong (6.83pc), gur (6.63pc) and bananas (3.35pc).</p> <p>Last week, short-term inflation <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2042609/short-term-inflation-surges-to-1231pc-due-to-costly-food-lpg">rose to 12.31pc</a> year-on-year driven largely by LPG and perishable food products.</p> This development from dawn.com highlights ongoing changes in the sector.