Prices of the entire range of essential kitchen items increased by 10 to 30 percent last year, a survey carried out by Business Recorder showed. Traders at Rawalpindi/ Islamabad wholesale markets were of the view that suppliers of most of the kitchen items kept on raising the prices of cooking oil, tea, LPG, firewood, eggs and other kitchen essentials throughout the year.
The traders said that recent increase in the prices of petroleum products will add fuel to the fire and prices of kitchen items would escalate further as transportation costs would also go up. Traders said that last year an increase of Rs 16 to Rs 45 per kg was witnessed in prices of all the pulses. According to them, price of moong increased from Rs 97 to Rs 140 per kg, mash from Rs 115 to Rs 145 per kg and chana from Rs 62 per kg to Rs 78 per kg during 2010. Floods in the country were also among main reasons behind substantial increase in pulses prices. Moreover, as Pakistan imports 50 percent of total consumption of pulses annually, this also adds to price hike, they added.
Shaukat Kiani, a shopkeeper, said that suppliers had increased prices of all the pulses by 5 percent even during the last month of the year. He said that as many as 21 commodities registered average price increase of 5 percent which include milk, cooking oil, tea, spices and other items.
Similarly, in September 2010, good quality cooking oil was available at Rs 150 per kg, which now is being sold at Rs 180 per kg. At the start of 2010 litre pack of milk was being sold at Rs 55, which now is available at Rs 70 per litre; loose milk at the beginning of the year was being sold at Rs 45 per kg, which is now available at Rs 60 per kg, he added.
Ali Abdullah, a trader, said that during last year prices of each kitchen item kept on increasing, but the hike was unbearable during last three months of the year when flour millers increased wheat flour price by Rs 75 per 20 kg, cooking oil manufacturers increased price by Rs 30 per kg. He said that in the month of September flour millers were supplying 20 kg normal wheat flour bag to traders at Rs 515, which is now being supplied at Rs 590.
Consumers had to pay more for kitchen fuel as the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and firewood increased by 10 percent and 3 percent, respectively, he added. During the survey it was observed that the Nanbais (tanoor operators) had also increased the price of Tandoori Roti by 3 percent during the year, with reduction in its weight.
Cooked food also registered increase in prices as a plate of cooked beef and mutton increased by Rs 10, while a plate of cooked pulse and vegetable increased by Rs 5 during the year. Rice prices also registered increase, as different varities of the commodity like Irri, basmati and broken basmati were available at Rs 45 per kg, Rs 90 per kg and Rs 50 per kg against their previous year's prices of Rs 40 per kg, Rs 80 per kg and Rs 55 per kg respectively, the survey noted.
The survey showed that during the same period last year farm eggs were being sold at Rs 68 per dozen, red chili at Rs 250 per kg and mustard oil at Rs 140 per kg and these commodities are now being sold at Rs 84 per dozen, Rs 300 per kg and Rs 160 per kg.
Traders at Islamabad Fruit and Vegetable market told Business Recorder that the prices of onion and sugar, which significantly increased during the past few months, considerably decreased in the last week of 2010 due to better supply situation.
They said that the prices of potato, onion, sugar, pulses and meat came down by an average of 7 percent during the same period. The price of potato registered the highest decrease of 35 percent in December as compared to its price in the previous month. Prices of sugar and onion registered a decrease of 28 percent and 22 percent, respectively. The vegetable and fruit dealers were of the view that the decrease in the prices of onion, sugar and potato can be attributed to the start of harvesting season of the respective crops in various parts of the country.
Economists Dr Javed Iqbal of AJ&K University said that the situation needs immediate attention of all major political players to chalk out a viable microeconomic strategy at national level for economic stabilisation, adding that the government must avoid unnecessary expenditures.
"The severe power and gas shortage is playing havoc with the industrial sector as they are unable to even utilise 50 percent of their production capacity. Productivity has also declined with the decline in power supply, which ultimately reduced the profitability," he added. Consumers said that the current massive increase in the petroleum products prices on the eve of the new year showed lack of government's concerns for addressing the problems of masses.
They said that the government is increasing POL prices, power and gas tariffs and other utilities' prices blindly and heartlessly under the IMF dictation, totally ignoring the plight of common man. The business community has strongly flayed the current increase in POL prices and said that the Prime Minister should have rejected the proposal for hike in price of petroleum products and electricity tariff as it would further multiply the miseries of general public.