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SPI rises 4.18% YoY on sugar, gas, wheat prices | The Express Tribune
Rs134 billion has been made by sugar profiteers. PHOTO: PIXABAY
KARACHI:
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), which gauges short-term inflation trends based on essential commodities, recorded a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 4.18% for the week ended November 6, 2025, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.
On a week-on-week (WoW) basis, however, prices fell 0.59%, offering modest relief to consumers amid ongoing price volatility in food and energy markets. The SPI, computed weekly to monitor price movement of 51 essential items across 50 markets in 17 cities, reflects consumption patterns across five income quintiles.
All quintiles recorded declines in weekly inflation, ranging from -1.04% for the lowest income group to -0.44% for the highest, signalling broad-based moderation across income brackets.
The most significant weekly fall was seen in tomato prices, which plunged 37.93%, followed by onions (-4.88%), garlic (-3.23%), pulse gram (-1.58%) and chicken (-0.68%). Prices of sugar (-0.64%), gur (-0.60%), pulse masoor (-0.55%), and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (-0.15%) also registered declines.
Overall, out of the 51 tracked items, 18 (35.29%) became costlier, 12 (23.53%) saw price reductions, while 21 (41.18%) remained unchanged.
Conversely, egg prices rose 2.40%, while bananas got costly by 2.32%. Prices of firewood (1.61%), diesel (1.12%), beef (0.93%), tea prepared (0.92%) and petrol (0.91%) also increased during the week.
Essential staples such as bread (0.55%), wheat flour (0.34%), powdered milk (0.31%) and cooking oil (5-litre tin) (0.21%) experienced mild upward adjustments.
Compared with the same week of last year, the SPI showed a 4.18% increase, indicating a sharp slowdown in annual inflation compared to the double-digit rates observed for most of 2024 and early 2025.
The most notable yearly increases were recorded in ladies’ sandals (55.62%), sugar (43.67%), gas charges for Q1 (29.85%), wheat flour (19.50%), gur (18.88%), firewood (14.25%), beef (14.09%) and vegetable ghee (up to 11.53%).
Meanwhile, significant declines were observed in garlic (-33.54%), pulse gram (-29.82%), electricity charges for Q1 (-26.26%), potatoes (-22.32%), tomatoes (-19.69%), tea (-17.79%), pulse mash (-15.52%) and chicken (-15.16%).
Income doesn’t come regularly
Freelancers earn from different clients at different times, making it hard to know the final income figure early
Multiple clients mean scattered TDS
Tax is deducted by many payers under different sections, and details don’t always update together in AIS or Form 26AS.
Income details settle very late
Many payments and TDS entries appear only near the year-end, delaying tax calculations.
First-time taxpayers lack clarity
Young gig workers often don’t know ITR deadlines, advance tax rules, or penalties for late filing.
Paperwork isn’t ready on time
Forms like 16A, invoices, bank statements, and expense bills are often unorganised or missing.
TDS deducted ≠ filing done
A common myth is that if tax is already deducted, filing the return is optional. It’s not.
Refund expected, filing delayed
Many assume that if no tax is payable or refund is due, filing late won’t matter — but penalties still apply.
E-verification gets ignored
Returns filed but not verified within 30 days are treated as invalid, almost like not filing at all.
Portal issues at the last moment
Heavy traffic, OTP failures, and technical errors near deadlines push filings beyond the due date.
No regular income tracking system
Not maintaining client-wise records of invoices, payments, and TDS creates confusion at filing time.
Deductions are gathered too late
Proofs for insurance, mutual funds, PPF, health cover, or tuition fees are often collected at the last minute.
MUMBAI: Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has opened a formal probe into IndusInd Bank after a Dec 23, 2025 letter triggered an investigation under the Companies Act, 2013, over accounting lapses tied to internal derivative trades.In a filing, the bank said SFIO, under the MCA, seeks information after the lender flagged on June 2 issues spanning internal derivatives, unsubstantiated “other assets/liabilities”, and microfinance interest/fee income. It disclosed the update on Dec 18, pledged full cooperation, and posted details on its website.Derivatives irregularities have hit P&L by about Rs 1,960 crore as of March 31, 2025, eroding reported net worth by roughly 2.3% as of Dec 2024. Earlier profits were overstated as notional gains flowed into P&L while losses sat parked as assets, inflating NII and earnings quality. The derivatives irregularities saw several members of the senior management stepping down with the board bringing in Rajiv Anand from Axis Bank to head the private lender.The bank recognised the losses, absorbed pain in its FY25 earnings which tipped the bank into a Q4 FY25 net loss after one-off write-offs/provisions. Capital/net worth took a 2–2.5% post-tax hit, trimming buffers and nudging growth appetite and capital pricing.The derivatives loss resulted in the shares of the bank sliding as investors reassessed earnings credibility and governance. The scrutiny also sharpened on the board/management/audit committees, intensifying regulatory pressure and SFIO oversight.
MUMBAI: Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) opens to commercial operations on Thursday after years of missed deadlines, opening a second gateway for air travel in the Mumbai region. The day will see four airlines operating about 30 domestic flights at India’s newest greenfield airport. The first scheduled arrival will be an IndiGo flight from Bengaluru, touching down at 8 am, while the first departure will also be operated by IndiGo, a morning service from Navi Mumbai to Hyderabad, scheduled to take off at 8.40 am. The terminal building will open to departure passengers around 6.40 am, said an NMIA spokesperson.“On Day One, domestic services will be operated by IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air and Star Air connecting NMIA to nine destinations across India. The airport will handle 15 scheduled departures on the first day,” said an NMIA spokesperson.“During the initial phase, NMIA will operate between 8 am and 8 pm, with up to 24 scheduled daily departures to 13 destinations and the capability to manage up to 10 aircraft movements per hour. From Feb 2026, operations are planned to progressively scale up to round-the-clock services,” the spokesperson added. “Passenger services from day one will be supported by Digi Yatra-enabled contactless processing at designated touchpoints, along with trained terminal staff across kerbside, check-in, security and boarding areas,” the spokesperson said. Conventional check-in counters too will be available for passengers not opting for Digiyatra. Retail and food and beverage offerings have been curated with a focus on affordability and local preferences, the airport said.In its initial phase, NMIA opens with terminal 1 and one operational runway; the terminal building has a capacity to handle 20 million passengers annually, but it is expected to touch that number before mid-2026. The terminal building can accommodate about 2-3 million passengers beyond its declared capacity. The new airport is 45-50 km from North Mumbai, 35-40 km from South Mumbai and 35-45 km from the eastern suburbs.
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