Tomato prices surpass chicken meat in Karachi

Short supply from Punjab and halted imports from Afghanistan push rates to record highs

KARACHI:

Tomatoes have become costlier than chicken in Karachi, with retail prices soaring to between Rs450 and Rs550 per kilogramme, setting a new record in the city’s markets. In comparison, chicken meat is available at around Rs450 per kg, making tomatoes more expensive item.

According to the official price list, tomatoes should be sold at Rs280 per kg, but neither retailers nor vendors in Sunday bachat bazaars are adhering to the government rates. Shopkeepers claim that wholesale prices have risen sharply, leaving them unable to sell at the official rate.

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Vegetable dealers attribute the surge to limited supplies from Punjab due to floods and a delay in Sindh’s local crop reaching the market. Currently, about 90 per cent of Karachi’s demand is being met through Iranian imports, while imports from Afghanistan remain suspended — further tightening supply and inflating prices.

Shoppers seeking relief in bachat bazaars were disappointed to find tomatoes selling well above the official rate even there. A stallholder in Gulshan-e-Iqbal said, “There’s no official rate enforced at the wholesale level. If we sell at Rs280, we’ll face losses.”

Meanwhile, the bazaar management claimed that stalls found violating official rates were sealed or fined, though citizens complained that no real relief was visible on the ground.