ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), rose 5.19 per cent year-on-year in the week ending Feb 19, reflecting higher retail prices of perishable food items and energy products in the domestic market.

The SPI-based inflation has now increased for 29 consecutive weeks, underscoring persistent pressure on household budgets. The continued upward movement has largely been driven by a sharp rise in the prices of vegetables and other perishables, as well as higher electricity and petrol rates. On a week-on-week basis, the SPI edged up by 1.16pc from the previous week, official data showed on Friday.

The increase was attributed mainly to stronger demand for essential food items during the month of Ramazan, which traditionally leads to higher consumption and short-term price pressures.

The latest figures suggest that food and energy remain the principal contributors to inflationary trends, with perishable goods particularly sensitive to supply constraints and seasonal demand patterns.

SPI rises 5.19pc year-on-year, driven by higher food and energy prices

An extraordinary surge in the retail prices of sugar and meat has also played a decisive role in reversing the easing trend witnessed in recent weeks. Meat prices, in particular, have been climbing steadily, adding further strain on household budgets already under pressure from elevated food and energy costs.

Weekly inflation had earlier reached a historic high of 48.35 per cent YoY in early May 2023. It subsequently moderated in the following years. The latest movement in sugar, edible oil, pulses, and meat prices suggests that volatility in essential food commodities continues to shape short-term inflation trends, with consumers facing recurring cycles of price spikes.

The items, whose prices increased the most over the previous week included bananas (16.05pc), electricity charges for Q1 (15.41pc), garlic (5.86pc), chicken (5.49pc), onions (3.83pc), tomatoes (3.82pc), diesel (2.69pc), petrol (1.93pc), beef (1.03pc), LPG (0.75pc), mutton (0.69pc) and long cloth (0.28pc).

The items whose prices saw a decline week-on-week included eggs (11.78pc), potatoes (2.24pc), wheat flour (2.02pc), pulse masoor (1.47pc), sugar (0.96pc), vegetable ghee 2.5Kg (0.72pc), pulse gram (0.58pc), cooking oil 5 litre (0.19pc), gur (0.16pc), vegetable ghee 1kg (0.11pc), rice IRRI-6/9 (0.08pc) and mustard oil (0.07pc).

However, on an annual basis, the items whose prices increased the most tomatoes (85.20pc), wheat flour (31.33pc), gas charges for Q1 (29.85pc), electricity charges for Q1 (17.33pc), bananas (15.83pc), chilies powder (15.20pc), beef (13.28pc), LPG (12.22pc), firewood (11.40pc), powdered milk (9.89pc), shirting (9.11pc), mutton (8.77pc) and gur (8.63pc).

In contrast, the prices of potatoes dropped 45.43pc, followed by garlic (27.51pc), pulse gram (23.30pc), chicken (19.36pc), onions (18.10pc), Lipton tea (13.95pc), salt powder (12.52pc), pulse masoor (12.33pc), eggs (8.54pc), pulse mash (5.08pc), mustard oil (2.13pc), sugar (1.43pc) and pulse moong (1.40pc).

The index, comprising 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is computed weekly to assess the prices of essential commodities and services at shorter intervals. Data showed that the prices of 17 items increased, 12 decreased, and 22 remained stable compared to the previous week.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2026

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ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday constituted a private sector Board of Administrators of Export Development Fund (EDF) with immediate effect.

Comprising an overwhelming 16 members from the private sector, the EDF has been constituted under section 5 of the Export Development Fund Act 1999 (amended 2026), to look after administrative affairs of the EDF.

Led by Service Long March Tyres Ltd Chief Executive Omer Saeed, the board comprised Style Textile Pvt. Ltd CEO Shahzad Asghar Ali, Interloop Ltd Director Tariq Iqbal Khan, Artistic Milliners Pvt. Ltd CEO Yaqoob Ahmad, Nishat Mills Ltd CEO Mian Umer Mansha, Novatex Ltd Executive Director Shabbir Diwan, Verdora Ventures CEO Syed M. Mahd, Systems Ltd CEO Asif Peer, chairmen/presidents of the Pakistan Business Council, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, Surgical Instrument Manufacturers Association of Pakistan, Pakistan Sports Goods Manufacturers & Exporters Association, All Pakistan Meat Exporters & Processors Association and Pakistan Pharmaceuti­cal Manufacturers Asso­cia­tion.

Public sector members include secretaries or their BS-21 representative of the ministries of Finance, commerce, national food security, Industries & Production, chief executive of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and Executive Director Export Development Fund and Dr Mohammad Saeed, Senior Technical Adviser on Trade, Customs and Institutional Reforms.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2026

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KARACHI: The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) on Friday announced approval and launch of a regulatory sandbox for virtual assets.

The announcement, shared on the authority’s social media platforms said PVARA “has formally approved and launched its regulatory sandbox for virtual assets.”

It adds that the “sandbox creates a live, supervised environment for testing real-world use cases, including tokenisation, stablecoins, remittances, and on- and off- ramp infrastructure under regulatory oversight”.

The post said that official guidelines for PVARA’s sandbox would be published in the authority’s website soon, but no details had been released until the time of going to press.

According to SECP’s website, a “regulatory sandbox is a tailored regulatory environment for conducting limited-scale, live tests of innovative products, services, processes, and/or business models in a controlled environment for a limited period of time.”

It further adds that this is “to assess their visibility to be launched on full-scale, and to determine the compatible and enabling regulatory environment that will be conducive for the innovative solutions.”

PVARA’s sandbox will allow for a controlled testing environment where web3 start-ups can trial innovative products and services under relaxed regulatory conditions, to inform new regulations that balance innovation and consumer protection.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2026

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