Weekly inflation continues to shatter records, rises to 44.6pc

Islamabad (HRNW) Inflation measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) continued to climb in the week that ended on August 25, jumping to a record 44.58 per cent year-on-year.

Data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday showed that the index rose due to higher prices of essential food items — tomatoes, onions, pulses and cooking oil — and fuel.

Prior to this, the highest year-on-year weekly inflation figure was 42.3pc, which was recorded for the week ending on Aug 18.

The latest data showed that the SPI increased 1.83pc week-on-week. It had risen 3.35pc last week.

The SPI monitors prices of 51 essential items based on a survey of 50 markets in 17 cities of the country.

During the week under review, the prices of 23 items increased; seven items saw a decrease in prices while for 21 items they remained unchanged.