With the latest reading, the weekly inflation remained above 41pc for the seventh week in a row, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics as quoted by Dawn News.

On an annual basis, the items whose prices incre­ased the most included gas (1,10­­­9­pc), cigarettes (93pc), chilli powder (81.7­pc), wheat flour (73.8pc), garlic (70.7pc), tomatoes (65.3pc), IRRI-6/9 and broken basmati rice (58.5pc), gents sponge chappal (58pc) and sugar (54.3pc).

In contrast, the prices of onions dropped 12.6pc year-on-year, followed by mustard oil (-5.2pc), vegetable ghee (1.14pc) and bananas (0.20pc).

The short-term, or weekly, inflation is measured by a basket of goods and services called the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), which stood at 311.14 compared to 310 in the preceding week and 217.20 a year ago, the Pakistani newspaper reported.