KARACHI:

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ending June 12, 2025, recorded a slight decline of 0.11%, mainly due to lower prices of key food items like chicken and garlic, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Chicken prices dropped sharply by 11.32%, while garlic declined by 5.69%. Other decreases were seen in pulse mash (1.14%), pulse masoor (0.43%), pulse gram (0.21%), cooking oil (5 litres), and vegetable ghee (2.5 kg), both down 0.20%. Wheat flour dropped by 0.05%, and LPG by 0.02%.

However, prices of several vegetables surged. Tomatoes increased by 19.73%, potatoes by 9.11%, onions by 3.23%, and bananas by 2.25%. Increases were also recorded in powdered milk (0.73%), eggs (0.67%), gur (0.52%), curd and basmati broken rice (0.25% each), vegetable ghee (1 kg) (0.20%), sugar (0.18%), and pulse moong (0.15%).

Of the 51 essential items monitored, prices of 15 items (29.41%) rose, 9 items (17.65%) declined, and 27 items (52.94%) remained unchanged.

On a year-on-year basis, the SPI registered a 1.41% decrease. Major declines were recorded in onions (61.86%), Q1 electricity charges (41.63%), garlic (30.99%), tomatoes (22.87%), pulse mash (19.18%), and branded tea (17.93%). Other notable drops included potatoes (16.49%), wheat flour (14.10%), chicken (8.04%), pulse masoor (6.13%), diesel (5.68%), and petrol (5.41%).

In contrast, significant annual increases were seen in ladies’ sandals (55.62%), eggs (31.41%), pulse moong (30.53%), powdered milk (24.73%), and sugar (23.76%). Prices also rose for bananas (16.18%), beef (15.75%), various types of vegetable ghee, firewood (10.81%), lawn fabric (10.45%), and cooked daal (9.90%).

The SPI is compiled weekly to track short-term price movements of essential items across 50 markets in 17 cities nationwide.