Connect with us

Pakistan

Weekly inflation at new 7-month low | The Express Tribune

Published

on



KARACHI:

The short-term inflation reading further decelerated by 1.10% in the week ended April 25, 2024 in the backdrop of a fall in prices of food items including tomato, onion and chicken, maintaining its downward streak for the second consecutive week.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and local research houses, the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) – a weekly inflation gauge – slowed down to a new seven-month low at 26.94% in the latest week compared to the corresponding week of last year.

However, the inflation rate still remained elevated as reflected in the double-digit level.

SPI is computed every week to assess price movements of essential commodities at a short interval and their impact on consumers. SPI comprises 51 essential items for which data is gathered from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country.

During the week under review, out of the 51 commodities covered by the SPI, prices of 15 (29.41%) items increased, 10 (19.61%) items decreased and 26 (50.98%) items remained unchanged compared to the previous week. The slowdown in inflation was primarily led by the decreasing prices of tomatoes, which became cheaper by 20.83% to Rs92.56 per kg in the week ended April 25 compared to Rs116.92/kg last week.

It was followed by onion prices, which fell by 14.43% to Rs169.90/kg compared to Rs198.54/kg in the previous week. Chicken prices dipped by 11.64% to Rs456.24/kg compared to Rs516.32/kg a week earlier.

Prices of other essential commodities decreased up to 5%, which included wheat flour, eggs, chilli powder, bananas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and garlic.

However, prices of some other commodities increased up to 1.80% on a week-on-week basis including potato, milk powder, vegetable ghee, mash pulse, sugar, gur, cooked pulse, mutton and shirting.

The year-on-year SPI trend depicted an increase of 26.94% with gas charges for Q1 rising by 570% in the week under review compared to the same week of last year. It was followed by tomatoes becoming expensive by 122.34% and onions becoming costlier by 121.31%.

Prices of other commodities surged up to 76.53%, which were chilli powder, gents’ sandal, garlic, gents’ sponge chappal, salt powder, shirting, gur, mash pulse and beef.

Research house Optimus Capital Management anticipated that the benchmark monthly inflation, measured through the Consumer Price Index, would contract by 3.6 percentage points to 17% in April 2024.

“A noticeable drop in the food index (down 2.6% month-on-month) and electricity prices (lower by 9.5% MoM), combined with a favourable base effect, is expected to significantly slash the headline inflation by 3.6 percentage points…to 17% year-on-year,” it said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2024.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.

 

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

آپ کا ای میل ایڈریس شائع نہیں کیا جائے گا۔ ضروری خانوں کو * سے نشان زد کیا گیا ہے

Pakistan

Check Property Ownership in Lahore, other Punjab cities Online – Pakistan Observer

Published

on

By


If you live in Lahore or any other city in Punjab; you might have faced difficulties in getting land record in previous years, but now the government made the land verification process smooth with digitization.

To curb the menace of land mafia and to help residents of Punjab, the government rolled out a systematic process and also eased the process of property transfers and real estate transactions.

A new verification system is Live by provincial authorities to check the legitimacy of properties available for purchase or investment across the region of 110 million people.

The relevant authority in this regard is Punjab Land Record Authority which oversees management and maintenance of land records. You can get different services, including ability to search for and view land records, as well as request copies of documents.

Check Property Ownership Online 2024

Here’s Step by Step Guide To Check property ownership

Step 1: Please visit PLRA portal at Punjab-zameen.gov.pk.

Step 2: Find ‘Property Registration,’ on home and click on https://rodportal.punjab-zameen.gov.pk/.

Step 3: It will ask you to select your district and service center.

Step 4: You can search by different options including Bahi number, ID card, registration number, or by person name.

Step 5: After entering details, please advance to ‘Search’ to get the land ownership.

With latest updates, you can check data on number of property transfers in last 36 months.

Beware of These Illegal Housing Societies in Lahore – September 2024 Update

Continue Reading

Pakistan

Suzuki Bolan discontinued in Pakistan after 36 years; Here’s replacement for ‘Carry Dabba’ – Pakistan Observer

Published

on

By


LAHORE – Finally, it’s time to say goodbye to the iconic Suzuki Bolan as Pak Suzuki pulled plugs to replace the minivan with another model. Over the last 3.5 decades, Suzuki Bolan enjoyed decent sales and was valued for its flexibility, serving a multi-passenger vehicle and for commercial purposes.

Amid shift in auto landscape in Pakistan, Bolan becomes latest drive to be discontinued after Suzuki Mehran, which you can still spot.

Pictures of Suzuki Bolan’s last batch surfaced online, and Pakistanis hit nostalgia as many grew up in this vehicle. The final chassis number marked as 01151691. The country’s oldest automaker and maker of Bolan also confirmed discontinuation of the 800cc Carry Dabba.

The company decided to replace Bolan for its outdated design and lack of safety features. Amid its low sales, consumer demand for a modern replacement like Changan Karvaan increased.

Suzuki Every to Replace Bolan

Suzuki earlier mentioned that Every will replace Bolan, and one of its recent model was unveiled at a recent auto show.

The launch of Every models faced delays due to import challenges and it is expected to launch in mid October.

Suzuki Bolan Price in Pakistan

 

Continue Reading

Pakistan

Gold prices reach historic high in Pakistan – Pakistan Observer

Published

on

By


Your source for latest Pakistan, world news. Stay updated on politics, business, sports, lifestyle, CPEC, and breaking news. Accurate, timely, and comprehensive coverage.

Continue Reading

Pakistan

Stocks rally past 82,000 mark as investors bet on IMF deal approval

Published

on

By


A man uses a mobile phone as he takes a photo of the electronic board displaying share prices during a trading session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange, on November 28, 2023. — Reuters

Stocks hit a record high on Friday, with the benchmark index topping the 82,000 mark as investors binged on big names amid forecasts of a further drop in inflation, strengthening the case for another rate cut by the State Bank of Pakistan in its next monetary policy meeting, traders said.

The KSE-100 index jumped by 615.16 points, or 0.76%, to reach 82,074.44 from its previous close of 81,459.28.

The index, fuelled by buying activity in heavyweight shares, rallied nearly 900 points during the opening hours of trading before succumbing to profit-taking in the latter half of the session, trimming early gains.

Analysts attributed this bull run to expectations of a sharp drop in inflation and interest rates. They added that government securities now have a kinked yield curve, with 2-year and 5-year yields above the 3-year yield.

Buying activity was seen in key sectors, including cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, and refineries, with index-heavy stocks such as MEBL, UBL, ENGRO, and FFC trading in the green.

Experts added that part of the positivity comes from investors anticipating the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board’s approval.

The IMF is scheduled to review Pakistan’s 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF), amounting to about $7 billion, on September 25.

On Thursday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) rose on improved local macroeconomic indicators and a larger-than-expected reduction by the Federal Reserve, with the KSE-100 index closing at 81,459.29, a gain of 997.95 points or 1.24%.

Meanwhile, world stocks hovered near record highs on Friday, underpinned by a big interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve earlier this week, while the yen eased after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda tempered market expectations around imminent rate hikes, according to Reuters.

The dollar climbed 1.2% on the Japanese currency to 144.29 – its strongest in two weeks – on the back of Ueda’s remarks, having earlier fallen around 0.6% to 141.74 after the BOJ kept interest rates steady in a widely expected move.

Continue Reading

Trending