CPI inflation up by 12.24% in February

ISLAMABAD (APP)- The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based monthly inflation increased by 12.24% on year-on-year (YoY) basis during the month of February 2022 against the corresponding month of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

According to PBS data, the average inflation rate during the period from July to February (2021-22) increased up to 10.52 over same period of the preceding year.

On month-on-month (MoM) basis, it increased by 1.15% when compared to previous month (January).

On year-on-year basis, the food commodities that contributed in urban food inflation during February 2022 over the same month of last year included tomatoes (310.06%), mustard oil (49.85%), cooking oil (41.03%), vegetable ghee (38.82%), pulse Masoor (38.42%), vegetables (33.31%), fruits (26.07%), gram whole (24.38%), meat (23.64%), pulse gram (13.90%), beans (13.03%), besan (11.97%), rice (11.89%) and milk (10.84%).

The food commodities that witnessed decline in prices included pulse Moong (25.64%), condiments & Spices (13.63%), sugar (5.43%), onions (5.35%) and chicken (4.62%).

The non-food commodities that witnessed increase in prices included Liquefied Hydrocarbons (54.60%), motor fuel (39.72%), cleaning & laundering (22.90%), washing soap/detergents/match box (17.09%), motor vehicle accessories (15.86%), solid fuel (12.67%), plastic products (11.43%) and stationery (10.50%).

In rural inflation, the food commodities that contributed in upward growth of CPI included tomatoes (267.51%), mustard oil (52.00%), cooking oil (47.73%), vegetable ghee (44.06%), pulse masoor (39.78%), vegetables (39.21%), gram whole (34.43%), fruits (25.30%), meat (24.30%), beans (14.84%) and besan (14.55%).

The commodities that witnessed decrease in prices included pulse Moong (26.37%), condiments & spices (16.05%), onions (5.06%), sugar (4.53%) and chicken (3.15%).

The non-food commodities that contributed in rural inflation included Liquefied Hydrocarbons (47.00%), motor fuels (38.93%), washing soaps/detergents/match box (18.62%), cleaning & laundering (16.82%), hosiery (15.68%), motor vehicles accessories (15.26%), solid fuel (15.11%), woolen readymade garments (15.03%), woolen cloth (14.02%), plastic products (12.70%) and furniture & furnishing (12.58%).

It is pertinent to mention here that the CPI on new base (2015-16) comprises of urban CPI and Rural CPI. The Urban CPI covers 35 cities and 356 consumer items while the Rural CPI covers 27 Rural Centers and 244 consumer items.

In the base year (2015-16) National CPI for 12 major groups is also computed by taking weighted average of Urban CPI and Rural CPI.