Overview
- The Sensitive Price Indicator, which tracks weekly prices of 51 essentials, fell 0.69% after Friday’s PBS release showed sharp drops led by diesel, chicken and onions.
- Despite the weekly relief, the year-on-year SPI rose 12.16% to the highest level in about 75 weeks, driven by big gains in LPG, petrol, diesel, tomatoes, onions and wheat flour.
- The weekly decline broke a six-week rising run, with diesel down 25.77%, chicken down 10.07% and onions down 6.63% over the seven days ended April 16.
- All income groups saw week-on-week relief, with small cuts for lower earners and larger reductions for middle brackets, showing the pullback was broad-based across households.
- Price moves were mixed across the basket, with 17 items up, 17 down and 17 unchanged, while March CPI rose 7.3% year on year and 1.2% month on month, signaling persistent inflation pressures.