- Prices of poultry products, kitchen fuels, meat, medical services and fruits go up
- Four percent drop in prices of pulses, rice varieties, cooked items, vegetables and condiments
ISLAMABAD, February 1, 2012: The prices of 20 commodities increased in January as compared to the preceding month while those of 25 came down and seven remained unchanged. Twenty commodities that included poultry products, kitchen fuels, meat, medical services and fruits registered an average increase of 7% but 25 commodities including pulses, rice varieties, cooked items, vegetables and condiments saw a 4% decrease in prices.
FAFEN collected the prices of 52 commodities from 179 retail outlets across the country on January 10, 2012. A major increase was recorded in the prices of all the poultry items with broiler chicken live registering the highest increase of 29%, followed closely by broiler chicken meat (28%). There was a 19% hike in the price of eggs per dozen while beef and mutton registered an increase of 2% and 1% respectively.
The prices of all the observed kitchen fuels -LPG (11%), firewood (1%) and kerosene oil (1%)- also went up. Among fruits, kinnow (24%), dark red apples (5%) and bananas (3%) registered an increase in prices while that of golden apples fell by 2%. Similarly, the prices of some pulses rose while those of others came down. Gram pulse and chickpeas each registered a 1% increase whereas the prices of pulses masoor (4%), moong (3%), mash (3%), red beans (2%), black gram (2%) and white beans (2%) registered a decline.
The change in prices of vegetables was due to the seasonal effect, – the prices of potatoes (19%) and tomatoes (10%) came down as the harvesting season of these crops continued across the country.
However, onions recorded a 6% increase in price. Similarly, as the harvest of the sugarcane crop continued, desi shaker, sugar and gur, registered a respective decrease of 9%, 7% and 7% in prices. Also down were the prices of all the observed rice varieties, irri-6, basmati-386 and basmati broken by 2%, 1% and 1% respectively.
Among condiments and spices, garlic and ginger registered a decline of 8% in their respective prices while that of turmeric decreased by 4% and red chili powder by 3%. Only the price of salt powder registered an increase of 2%. Despite an increase in the price of kitchen fuels, the prices of plates of cooked beef, vegetables and dal decreased 1% each. However, prepared tea cup registered a 2% increase.
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