Short-term inflation hits households hard

ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), increased by 4.70 per cent year-on-year in the week ending 5 March, reflecting higher retail prices for petroleum products.

Short-term inflation has persistently risen for the 31st consecutive week, indicating ongoing pressure on household budgets. The continuous increase is mainly caused by sharp rises in the prices of vegetables and other perishable foods, along with higher electricity tariffs and petrol prices.

On a week-on-week basis, the SPI recorded a marginal increase of 0.37pc compared with the previous week, mainly due to higher prices of petrol, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas, according to official data released on Friday.

Short-term inflation is expected to increase further due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which is disrupting the supply of essential commodities, especially petroleum products. The uncertainty in global energy markets has raised concerns about higher import costs and supply limitations, which could put additional pressure on domestic prices.

Petroleum, food drive price hike for 31st week

Petroleum, food drive price hike for 31st week

The government has already indicated that an increase in petroleum product prices is likely, warning that supply shortages may also emerge in the country if the situation persists. According to officials, a prolonged conflict in the region could intensify inflationary pressures by pushing up energy costs and affecting the availability of key imported commodities.

A sharp rise in the retail prices of sugar and meat has also significantly contributed to the recent upward trend. Meat prices, in particular, have been increasing gradually, placing additional pressure on household budgets already strained by high food and energy costs.

Weekly inflation earlier hit a record high of 48.35pc YoY in early May 2023. It then eased in the following years. The recent fluctuations in sugar, edible oil, pulses, and meat prices indicate that instability in essential food commodities continues to influence short-term inflation patterns, with consumers experiencing repeated cycles of price increases.

The items, whose prices increased the most over the previous week included chicken (10.46pc), LPG (5.61pc), bananas (3.85pc), petrol (3.06pc), diesel (1.84pc), garlic (1.23pc), beef (0.66pc), mutton (0.65pc), pulse mash (0.51pc), lawn printed (0.43pc), gur (0.30pc) and mustard oil (0.24pc).

The items whose prices declined week-on-week included tomatoes (10.04pc), eggs (8.13pc), onions (6.08pc), potatoes (5.09pc), wheat flour (2.40pc), pulse gram (0.50pc), pulse moong (0.43pc) and 5-litre cooking oil (0.37pc).

However, on an annual basis, the items with the highest price increases included gas charges for Q1 (29.85pc), wheat flour (26.13pc), electricity charges for Q1 (17.33pc), LPG (16.89pc), chilli powder (15.20pc), beef (12.36pc), firewood (11.40pc), powdered milk (10.16pc), mutton (9.32pc), tomatoes (9.02pc), gur (8.51pc), and rice basmati broken (6.18pc).

In contrast, the prices of potatoes fell by 53.76pc, followed by onions (26.10pc), eggs (24.93pc), garlic (22.25pc), chicken (21.70pc), pulse gram (21.37pc), salt powder (12.52pc), and pulse masoor (10.71pc).

The index, comprising 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is computed weekly to assess the prices of essential commodities and services more frequently. Data showed that the prices of 13 items increased, 11 decreased, and 27 remained stable compared to the previous week.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2026

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