ISLAMABAD: Amid the ongoing surge in inflation, the price of ghee offered under the prime minister’s package at Utility Stores was raised by Rs25 on Friday.
As per the official notification, Utility Stores have adjusted the price of ghee with an increment of Rs25, now retailing at Rs 423 per kilogram.
Concurrently, the price of the product designated for beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was elevated by Rs53, establishing the new price at Rs353 per kilogram.
The notification also clarified that targeted subsidies at utility stores will exclusively apply to BISP-eligible individuals.
Just a day prior, the prices of rice and pulses were elevated at state-owned Utility Stores Corporation (USC) outlets, with increases of up to Rs20 per kilogram.
Pulse prices, including Daal Channa, Masoor, and White Channa, witnessed an upswing of Rs20 per kilogram across USC outlets nationwide.
Furthermore, Tota Basmati Rice faced an increase of Rs12 per kilogram, while Super Basmati Rice experienced a surge of Rs10 per kilogram.
Inflation Rises at Utility Stores
Weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), recorded a 0.69% increase for the collective consumption group in the week ended on August 10.
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday said that during the reviewed week, the SPI for the specified consumption group stood at 273.43 points, contrasting with the previous week’s 271.56 points.
Comparing the current week to the corresponding period of the prior year, the SPI for the combined consumption group experienced a significant uptick of 30.82%.
For the lowest consumption group, up to Rs 17,732, the SPI increased by 0.76%, reaching 279.66 points from the preceding week’s 277.55 points.
The SPI for consumption groups in the ranges of Rs 17,732-22,888, Rs 22,889-29,517, Rs 29,518-44,175, and above Rs 44,175 exhibited increments of 0.68%, 0.75%, 0.77%, and 0.57% respectively.
Within the week, among the 51 items, prices of 29 (56.87%) items surged, 05 (9.80%) items declined, and 17 (33.33%) items remained stable.
Items that registered decreases in their average prices on a week-on-week (WoW) basis included 1 kg vegetable ghee (1.59%), LPG (0.79%), cooking oil (0.78%), mustard oil (0.48%), and 2.5 kg vegetable ghee (0.10%).
Items that experienced an increase in their average prices on a WoW basis included chillies powder (3.72%), powdered milk (3.65%), pulse mash (3.13%), garlic (2.39%), sugar (2.30%), chicken (2.27%), salt (1.84%), eggs (1.74%), and Q1 electricity (1.75%).
Commodities that saw a decrease in price on a Year-on-Year (YOY) basis included onions (28.77%), Q1 electricity (16.63%), pulse masoor (16.04%), and 1 kg vegetable ghee (1.93%).
On a Year-on-Year (YoY) basis, commodities that marked an increase in their average prices included wheat flour (131.81%), cigarettes (109.57%), Q1 gas charges (108.38%), Lipton tea (95.19%), broken basmati rice (84.09%), chillies powder (72.94%), irri-6/9 rice (72.74%), sugar (67.90%), chicken (65.87%), gur (58.93%), men’s sponge chappal (58.05%), potatoes (57.02%), and tomatoes (53.66%).
