Staples, fuel keep SPI near 12% YoY

Express Tribune reported that the Sensitive Price Indicator rose 0.57 per cent week on week to 372.58 in the week to October 8, 2026. That put the index 11.97 per cent above the same week of 2025, when it stood at 332.75. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics figures pointed to wheat flour, chicken and petrol as the main pressures.

Wheat flour led the weekly increase, costing Rs2,851 for a 20-kilogram bag after a 5.69 per cent jump. Chicken climbed 4.93 per cent to Rs383 a kilogram, while petrol, averaging Rs398.87 a litre, gained 2.40 per cent. On the other side, diesel eased 1.37 per cent to Rs397.02 a litre and bananas dropped 2.81 per cent.

Year on year, onion prices more than doubled, rising 100.24 per cent to Rs190 a kilogram, while LPG climbed 68.55 per cent. The top consumption quintile saw its index rise 12.48 per cent annually, against 9.41 per cent for the lowest group. Separately, national CPI inflation reached 11.1 per cent year on year in August 2026, up from 9.2 per cent in July.