KARACHI: Pakistan’s inflation has further eased, with the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) registering a 0.36 per cent decline for the week ending January 30, 2025. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), this decline marks a continuation of recent trends, with the SPI showing a small 0.44 per cent year-on-year increase compared to the same week in 2024.

Weekly price data revealed that 16 of the 51 essential items monitored saw price reductions, while nine experienced increases, and 26 remained unchanged. Tomatoes and onions led the decline, with prices dropping by 16.18 per cent and 12.32 per cent, respectively. Potatoes fell by 7.66 per cent, eggs by 5.09 per cent, and LPG prices dropped by 3.21 per cent.

Conversely, bananas recorded a 4.6 per cent price increase, sugar rose by 3.39 per cent, while chicken, rice basmati (broken), and cooking oil registered modest gains of under 1.0 per cent.

Year-on-year comparisons highlight mixed trends. While items such as ladies’ sandals (75.09 per cent), potatoes (34.95 per cent) and gram pulses (32.92 per cent) witnessed significant price surges, others like onions (-54.36 per cent), eggs (-37.38 per cent) and wheat flour (-36.77 per cent) experienced notable declines.

SPI data also showed disparities across income groups. Households earning less than Rs17,732 monthly reported a 0.18 per cent year-on-year price reduction, while higher-income households experienced a 0.79 per cent increase.