Widespread flooding across several districts of Punjab has severely disrupted the supply of food and essential commodities, unleashing a wave of inflation that has driven the prices of vegetables, fruit, pulses, chicken, flour, wheat, sugar and ghee to unprecedented levels.
The purchasing power of ordinary citizens has collapsed under this inflationary surge. With the administration unable to restore supply chains, district authorities have formally increased the official rates of staple goods.
In parallel, so-called Sunday Bazaars and "budget markets" have degenerated into centres for the sale of substandard and counterfeit products.
The latest market prices present a bleak outlook as 20-kg flour bag is being sold at Rs2,400 and 10kg bag at Rs1,180; sugar at Rs190 per kg in the city and Rs200 per kg in suburban areas; chicken live at Rs470 per kg and chicken meat at Rs750 per kg; per dozen eggs at Rs305 despite hot weather; Pulses: White chickpeas Rs 420/kg; gram lentils Rs 370/kg; cooking oil/ghee at Rs500 per kg; Mutton meat at Rs2,400 per kg; beef at Rs1,400 per kg; Dairy milk at Rs220/litre; while yoghurt is available in Rs240 per litre.
Vegetable prices have surged steeply as vendors are selling potatoes for Rs100 per kg, onions Rs120 per kg, tomatoes Rs300 per kg, lemons Rs400 per kg, peas Rs250 per kg, coriander Rs80 per small bunch, garlic Rs400 per kg, ginger Rs500 per kg, green chillies Rs140 per kg, arvi Rs150 per kg, carrots (local) Rs300 per kg, bitter gourd Rs200 per kg, pumpkin Rs100 per kg, and cauliflower Rs170 per kg.
In fruits, apples are being sold for Rs250-350 per kg, grapes Rs350-450 per kg, peaches Rs300-400 per kg, plums Rs450 per kg, melons Rs160 per kg, bananas Rs100-200 per dozen, sweet oranges Rs250-300 per dozen, kinnow Rs300 per dozen, mangoes Rs300-400 per kg, pears Rs250 per kg, guavas Rs250 per kg, papaya Rs400 per kg, coconuts Rs450-500 each, apricots Rs300 per kg, and persimmons Rs250 per kg.
The Kiryana Merchants Association president, Saleem Pervaiz Butt, has rejected the government's official flour price and threatened to suspend sales altogether.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Nanbai Association has warned that with the price of a 79kg flour sack soaring to Rs12,000, fine flour sacks to Rs13,500, and smaller flour bags up by Rs600, they have no choice but to increase the price of roti from Rs14 to Rs20.
A formal requisition has already been submitted to the Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner (DC). The association has cautioned that if approval for the price hike isn't granted within the week, they will enforce the increase unilaterally.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ