Prices for everyday goods (measured by the SPI) rose 0.73% last week, mainly because food and fuel got more expensive. However, compared to the same week last year, prices are actually down 2.06%.
What Got More Expensive Last Week?
- Chicken (+13%)
- Onions (+12%)
- Tomatoes (+11%)
- Garlic (+5%)
- Diesel (+4%)
- Potatoes (+4%)
- Petrol (+3%)
- Sugar (+1%)
What Got Cheaper Last Week?
- Cooking Gas (LPG) (-9%)
- Bananas (-3%)
- Eggs (-1%)
Big Price Drops Compared to Last Year:
- Tomatoes (-61%)
- Onions (-54%)
- Electricity for low-income homes (-38%)
- Garlic (-24%)
- Wheat Flour (-24%)
Big Price Increases Compared to Last Year:
- Ladies’ Sandals (+56%)
- Sugar (+28%)
- Powdered Milk (+16%)
- Beef (+15%)
Who Was Affected?
All income groups saw prices rise last week. Everyone also saw lower prices compared to last year, with middle-income groups seeing the biggest annual drop.
Looking Ahead:
- Overall national inflation (NCPI) is expected to stay low in June (around 3.2% higher than last June).
- Food prices might stay steady overall, balancing big jumps in some vegetables (like tomatoes) with a big drop in chicken prices.
- Electricity prices are expected to rise about 6% this month after falling for seven months.
- Gas (natural gas) bills are also expected to jump sharply (around 23%) due to recent tariff changes.
In Short: While prices went up last week for many basics, the overall cost of living is still lower than it was a year ago. However, increases in electricity and gas bills are expected soon. The current article is particularly dense with economic jargon: SPI, YoY, WoW, quintiles, and numerous percentage changes across 51 items The challenge is to distill the essence while keeping it accurate. The key points seem to be: 1) Weekly price increase (0.73%) driven by food/fuel, 2) Annual price decrease (2.06%) showing cooling inflation, 3) Specific items with radical price changes (tomatoes down 61% yearly but chicken up 13% weekly), and 4) Future inflation projections. I notice the article has two distinct parts – current SPI data and future NCPI predictions. The user’s strict word limit means I must prioritize the most significant numbers. For instance, mentioning “ladies sandals up 55%” might be less crucial than staple foods. The income group breakdown (Q2-Q5) could be simplified to “all income groups” unless the differences are critical. The future projections about electricity/gas prices and core inflation dropping to 7.3% seem important for economic context. I’ll group similar items (e.g., “vegetables like tomatoes and onions fell sharply yearly”) to save words. Since previous rewrites used bold headers, I’ll maintain that style for scanability but keep it shorter than the 298-word chicken article earlier.
