According to official data released on Friday, short-term inflation, as measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), rose by 29.45 percent year-on-year for the week ending April 4, primarily driven by an increase in petrol prices. Week-on-week, it saw a 0.96 percent increase.
The full impact of the petrol price hike on essential goods will become evident in the upcoming week’s review. However, transportation expenses contributed to a slight uptick in the prices of perishable items.
SPI has remained above 30 percent for the past 18 weeks. In March, it saw a decline after consistently staying above 40 percent for 11 weeks, beginning from 29 percent recorded on November 8, 2023.
Items that witnessed a week-on-week price increase included ladies sandals, tomatoes, gents sandals, petrol, chicken, long cloth, onion, bread, beef, garlic, mutton, and broken basmati rice. Conversely, bananas, wheat flour, eggs, LPG, diesel, gur, sugar, mustard oil, masoor pulse, and potatoes saw price decreases over the previous week.
On an annual basis, the items experiencing the most significant price increases included gas charges for Q1, onions, chili powder, gents sandals, gents sponge chappal, garlic, tomatoes, gur, salt powder, energy saver, pulse mash, and prepared tea. Conversely, bananas, cooking oil (5-liter), vegetable ghee (1 Kg and 2.5 Kg), mustard oil, wheat flour, diesel, and cigarettes witnessed price drops.
The SPI stood at 326.29 compared to 323.20 in the previous week and 252.06 a year ago. This index, comprising 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is calculated weekly to monitor essential commodities and services prices at shorter intervals. Data revealed that prices of 16 items increased, 13 items decreased, and 22 items remained stable compared to the previous week.
