A report Based on the Prices Collected from 170 Retail Outlets in 85 Districts across Pakistan
Compared to September, the prices of as many as 26 commodities decreased and those of 19 went up while six commodities saw no change in October 2011. On average, the prices of commodities like wheat, fruits, chicken, some pulses, medical tests and kitchen fuel decreased by 5.4% while those of yogurt, eggs, chapatti, beef, some pulses and rice varieties etc. increased by 8%. FAFEN collected the prices of 52 commodities from 170 retail outlets in 85 districts across the country.
The price of blood test (complete picture) decreased the most – 20% among all 52 commodities. The prices of other monitored medical tests monitored, including blood sugar and urine (routine examination) also fell by 4% and 2% respectively.
However, the prices of both Panadol and Disprin- medicines available over-the-counter- increased by 9% and 1% respectively. The prices of observed fruits; banana, apples (dark red and golden) witnessed a decrease of18%, 3% and 1% respectively. This was possibly because of the seasonal effect.
The price of peanuts fell by 1%. The seasonal effect also impacted other commodities as the prices of tomato, onion and red chili powder increased by 85%, 19% and 16% respectively while potato price went down by 3%. Among condiments, the prices of garlic, ginger and turmeric came down by 17%, 17% and 2% respectively while among pulses, the prices of washed moong, gram and washed masoor decreased by 3%, 1% and 1%. However, some other pulses including red beans, chickpeas, black gram and white beans registered a price increase.
The price of wheat grain was down 2% while that of wheat flour by 1%. However, there was a 1% increase in the price of plain chapatti. Although the average price of fresh milk remained unchanged, the price of yoghurt went up by 2%. On the other hand, the price of sugar fell by 6% while desi shaker saw a 1% increase. Among poultry products, the prices of live chicken and chicken meat decreased by 9% while those of eggs (hen) increased by 1%.
As for the rice varieties, the price of Irri-6 registered a 3% increase while Basmati (broken) went up by 2%. The price of Basmati-386 however, fell by 1% in the reporting month. Among kitchen fuels, there was a 5% decrease in LPG prices while those of firewood and kerosene oil went up by 3% and 1% respectively. The prices of the monitored cooked items- vegetable, dal and beef plates- each decreased by 2% while the price of a cup of tea rose by 1%. – of 4%, 4%, 1% and 1% Since FAFEN compared the data collected by its Governance Monitors with the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) of the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), it showed differences in prices of many items collected from the same cities.
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