Pakistan’s weekly inflation surges to 38.4pc

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 19 (ANI): Cash-strapped Pakistan recorded a new high in inflation as it went to 38.42 per cent in the outgoing week, both on an on-year and on-week bases, reported Dawn citing official data.

The price rose significantly mainly driven by onions, chicken, cooking oil and a massive jump in fuel costs.
As a result, short-term inflation, measured by Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), jumped to 38.42 per cent on a year-on-year basis for the week ended on Feb 16, rising from 34.83pc in the previous week, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said.

The hike in prices is the highest annual rise since the week ending Sept 15, 2022, when the SPI inflation was 40.6 per cent, reported Dawn.

The week-on-week inflation also jumped to 2.89 per cent from 0.17 per cent a week ago. Of the 51 items tracked, the prices of 34 items increased, five items decreased, whereas those of 12 items remained unchanged.

In contrast, the highest year-on-year fall was recorded in the prices of tomatoes (-65.3 per cent), chilli powder (-7.42 per cent), and electricity for the income group earning up to Rs17,732 per month (-7.5 per cent).

Recently, the Pakistan government has increased the price of petrol to a historic high, Geo News reported.

The price of petrol has been moved up to Rs 272 per litre after an increase of Rs22.20, a press release from the Finance Division read Wednesday night, to appease the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for unlocking the critical loan tranche, hours after unveiling a tax-loaded ‘mini-budget’.

The Pakistani rupee has fallen sharply against the dollar since an artificial cap on the local currency was removed last month to allow its value to be decided by a market-based exchange rate.

The price of high-speed diesel has been increased to Rs 280 per litre after a hike of Rs17.20. Kerosene oil will now be available at Rs 202.73 per litre following an Rs 12.90 hike. Meanwhile, light diesel oil will be available at Rs196.68 per litre after an increase of Rs 9.68, reported Geo News. (ANI)