By Moaaz Manzoor

Pakistan’s weekly inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), increased by 1.93% for the week ended April 9, 2026, mainly driven by a sharp rise in diesel, petrol, tomatoes, and LPG prices, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

The SPI tracks price movements of 51 essential commodities collected from 50 markets across 17 cities, providing a short-term snapshot of inflation trends.

The weekly increase was led by diesel, which surged 54.71%, followed by petrol (17.86%), tomatoes (9.35%), LPG (8.61%), potatoes (4.13%), onions (3.84%), eggs (3.77%), beef (1.07%), mutton (1.05%), cooked daal (0.88%), georgette (0.66%), and bread (0.47%).

Meanwhile, several essential items recorded price declines. Garlic showed the sharpest drop, falling 3.78%, followed by bananas (3.39%), chicken (1.05%), wheat flour (0.73%), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (0.24%), while cooking oil (5 litre) and pulse mash declined 0.07% each. Gur edged down 0.01%.

During the week under review, out of 51 items in the SPI basket, prices of 28 items (54.90%) increased, 8 items (15.69%) decreased, while 15 items (29.41%) remained unchanged.

On a year-on-year basis, the SPI increased by 12.15% compared to the corresponding week last year. Major increases were recorded in diesel, which rose 101.02%, followed by LPG (65.86%), petrol (48.70%), onions (37.80%), wheat flour (30.10%), gas charges for Q1 (29.85%), tomatoes (23.07%), chilies powder (15.20%), mutton (14.98%), beef (13.95%), powdered milk (10.23%), and bananas (7.78%).

Conversely, several commodities were cheaper than a year ago. Potatoes recorded the largest decline, down 46.32%, followed by pulse gram (18.83%), salt powder (12.78%), pulse masoor and sugar (11.52% each), chicken (9.69%), pulse moong (1.87%), and tea Lipton (1.14%).

Inflation trends varied across consumption groups. On a weekly basis, SPI increased by 0.75% in Q1, 1.02% in Q2, 1.17% in Q3, 1.56% in Q4, and 2.50% in Q5, with the combined rate at 1.93%. On a year-on-year basis, inflation rose 9.33% for Q1, 11.50% for Q2, 10.51% for Q3, 10.61% for Q4, and 12.25% for Q5, while the overall combined increase stood at 12.15%.

The latest SPI reading indicates renewed pressure on short-term inflation, largely driven by fuel and food prices, despite some relief from declines in selected commodities.

Credit: INP-WealthPk