Pakistan's inflation surges again as food prices rise

Inflation measured through the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) posted an increase of 0.08 per cent for the week ended on January 6 driven by a sharp increase in the prices of essential food and non-food items, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday, reported Dawn. 

The SPI-based inflation showed positive growth after a decline last week. In recent months, the highest weekly inflation jump was recorded last November with rise of 1.81 per cent.

The overall increase was mainly due to an increase of 5.23 per cent in potato price, followed by chicken 4.45 per cent, bananas 2.56 per cent, onions 2.12 per cent, pulse masoor 1.55 per cent, pulse gram 1.46 per cent and pulse mash 1.44 per cent. In non-food items, price of diesel and salt increased by 2.75 per cent each and petrol 2.68 per cent, according to Dawn.

It comes as Pakistan's trade deficit surged due to the rise in imports. The country's trade deficit has surged to USD 24.79 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year, mainly on the back of a 63 per cent year-on-year increase in imports. 

Data for the July-December period showed that imports jumped to USD 39.91 bn from USD 24.47 bn a year ago. In contrast, exports during July-December also grew 25 per cent to USD 15.13bn compared to the year-ago period, reported Dawn.