Short-term inflation, as measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), rose to 4.64% year-on-year for the week ending December 19, driven by higher prices of edible oil and essential kitchen items.
The SPI-based inflation saw a modest week-on-week increase for the second consecutive week, rising by 0.38%, according to official data released on Friday.
The increase was largely attributed to higher prices of vegetable ghee, cooking oil, and tomatoes, along with continued rises in perishable food items and energy products like LPG.
Edible oil manufacturers recently raised prices, and the retail prices of tomatoes and onions saw a sharp increase last week. Additionally, the government’s slight increase in petrol prices is expected to impact transportation costs and the prices of vegetables and fruits.
Earlier in the year, the SPI saw a decline after a prolonged period of inflation above 40%, reaching a peak of 48.35% in early May 2023 before dropping to 24.4% by late August. However, it surged again above 40% in mid-November 2023.
Notable weekly price increases included tomatoes (56.66%), firewood (1.57%), garlic (1.40%), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (0.95%), cooking oil 5 liters (0.79%), mustard oil (0.74%), LPG (0.71%), gur (0.28%), vegetable ghee 1kg (0.25%), sugar (0.23%), georgette (0.13%), and long cloth (0.10%).
On the other hand, onions (-4.16%), potatoes (-3.83%), eggs (-2.72%), diesel (-1.17%), pulse gram (-0.98%), wheat flour (-0.76%), bananas (-0.56%), and rice basmati broken and pulse moong (-0.27%) saw the largest week-on-week declines.
On an annual basis, the biggest price increases included tomatoes (95.54%), ladies sandals (75.09%), pulse gram (56.75%), potatoes (50.81%), pulse moong (34.88%), powdered milk (25.62%), beef (23.84%), garlic (17.13%), gas charges for Q1 (15.52%), cooked daal (15.08%), shirting (14.36%), and firewood (12.43%).
In contrast, wheat flour prices fell by 36.15%, followed by chili powder (-20%), onions (-13.74%), eggs (-12.98%), pulse masoor (-10.64%), rice basmati broken (-7.62%), diesel (-7.49%), electricity charges for Q1 (-6.96%), bread (-6.01%), petrol (-5.64%), and sugar (-5.20%).
The SPI index, which tracks 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, showed price increases for 15 items, decreases for 13, and stability for 23 items compared to the previous week.
