A report based on prices collected from 182 retail outlets in 92 districts across Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, JAN 3: A Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) report on Tuesday said prices of 27 commodities increased in December 2011 compared to the preceding month while those of 20 others fell and five remained unchanged.

FAFEN monitors collected prices of 52 commodities from 182 retail outlets across the country on December 10, 2011.

The report said 27 commodities, including kitchen fuels, some cooked items, wheat, varieties of apples and medical services, registered an average price increase of 3%, while 20 commodities, including vegetables, sweeteners, some pulses and chicken, saw an average decrease of 10%.

The highest 13% increase was registered in the price of blood test (complete picture) while those of other observed services like blood sugar and urine tests (routine examinations) each rose by 2%.

All the kitchen fuels, including kerosene oil, firewood and LPG each, registered a price increase of 2%. Among the spices monitored, the price of red chili powder went up by 4% and salt by 2%. On the other hand, mutton and beef registered a 3% and 1% increase in respective prices.

Wheat flour price went up by 2%, possibly because of the sowing season of the crop across the country. Golden and dark red apples registered a price increase of 7% and 6% respectively. Abundance of kinnow in the market with the onset of winter saw its price fall by 23%. The price of banana also registered a 2% price decrease in December.

Winter also had an impact on the prices of eggs and peanuts, which went up by 9% and 6% respectively. However, the prices of other poultry products – chicken broiler (live) and chicken broiler (meat) – were down by 6% and 5% respectively.

Prices of tomatoes (44%), onions (31%) and potatoes (26%) came down as the harvesting season of the respective crops got underway in December. All the sugarcane products – sugar, gur and desi shaker – registered a decrease of 16%, 11% and 8% in prices respectively with the harvest of sugarcane continuing across the country.

Red beans recorded the biggest price increase of 6%, followed by chickpeas and black gram, each registering a 1% increase. The prices of moong pulse (2%), gram pulse (2%), white beans (1%), masoor pulse (1%) and mash pulse (1%) came down. Similarly, among condiments, price of turmeric was up 2% while that of ginger fell 8% and garlic by 7%.

Prices of plain chapatti and plates of cooked dal and vegetables increased by 1% while a prepared cup of tea and plate of cooked beef each registered a 3% decrease.

Average prices of commodities, including yoghurt, wheat grain, branded cooking oil, basmati rice broken and branded vegetable ghee, remained unchanged between November 10 and December 10, 2011.