Rising petrol price makes 28 essential commodities costlier

Milk, lentils, rice, ghee become costlier in tandem with hike in petroleum products

ISLAMABAD:

The prices of 28 essential commodities have climbed rapidly due to the record-hitting fuel costs, resulting in inflation of 18.09 per cent on an annual basis.

As a direct effect of the hike in the prices of petroleum products, the prices on everyday conveniences such as milk, pulses, ghee, and lentils have shot up, according to the federal bureau of statistics.

The report says that in the last one week, 28 essential commodities, which include milk, yoghurt, powdered milk, flour, firewood, rice and tea, have become costlier. The stables also include mustard oil, tomatoes, chicken, garlic, mutton, beef, cooking ghee and lentils.

Meanwhile, 11 essential commodities, including potatoes, onions, eggs, sugar and flour have become cheaper, and the cost of 12 commodities remained stable.

On Tuesday, the prices went dearer as the government approved an increase of up to Rs12.03 per litre in the prices of petroleum products, taking that of petrol to a record level of Rs159.86 per litre effective from February 16.

Read Businessmen urge govt to review petrol price hike

The price of petrol broke all previous records by reaching the Rs160 per litre mark, tightening the squeeze on consumers.

On the other hand, the statistics report said that the price of chicken climbed to 2.89 per cent, ghee 1.08 per cent, petrol 8.12 per cent, high-speed diesel 6.52 per cent, garlic 10.53 per cent, tomato 4.35 per cent and matches 2.17 per cent.

However, the potato became cheaper by 0.89 per cent, onion 1.39 per cent, lentils 0.11 per cent, eggs 5.31 per cent, sugar 0.59 per cent, red chilli powder 5.41 per cent, garlic 0.82 per cent, and flour by 0.27 per cent cheaper.

According to the weekly inflation report, the inflation rate increased by 0.22% during the recent week, taking the overall inflation rate to 18.09% on an annual basis.