After hiking flour rates, the government increased on Wednesday the price of ghee and cooking oil, as the partial removal of fuel subsidies started to take effect.

As per a notification issued by the Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan (USC), the price of ghee for a 1kg-pouch Soya Supreme Banaspati increased by Rs208 to hit Rs520. The same brand's cooking oil also increased by Rs213, reaching Rs532 fora 1-litre pouch.

Following is the list of the revised rates:

Last month, the government raised flour prices by Rs180, with a 20kg bag now available at Rs980 as compared to the previous price of Rs800. Meanwhile, the price of a 10kg flour bag jumped up to Rs490 per bag as compared to the previous rate of Rs400, registering a hike of Rs90.

These are rates at the government-owned utility stores.

Fuelled by an increase in commodity prices in the international market, Pakistan has faced soaring inflation, which clocked in at 13.8% on a year-on-year basis in May 2022, compared to 13.4% in the previous month and 10.9% in May 2021, revealed government statistics.

Food inflation reached 17.3% in May 2022, showed analysis from Arif Habib Limited (AHL).

The price hike follows the government's announcement to increase petroleum products’ prices by Rs30 per litre in an effort to revive the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

While announcing the hike in prices of petroleum products, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail expressed hope that reaching an understanding on staff-level agreement with the IMF would be easier as constructive discussions are being held on revival of the stalled $6-billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).