ISLAMABAD, Nov 5: A Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) report on Saturday said compared to September prices of 26 commodities decreased, 19 went up and six remained unchanged in October this year.
On average, prices of commodities like wheat, fruits, chicken, some pulses, medical tests and kitchen fuel went down by 5.4% while yoghurt, eggs,chapatti, beef, some pulses and rice varieties registered 8% increase.
FAFEN Governance Monitors collected prices of 52 commodities from 170 retail outlets in 85 districts across the country.
The report said the price of blood test (complete picture) decreased the most – 20% – among all 52 commodities. Prices of other medical tests monitored, including blood sugar and urine (routine examination), also fell by 4% and 2% respectively. However, prices of Panadol and Disprin increased by 9% and 1% respectively.
It said prices of banana, apples (dark red and golden) witnessed a decrease of 18%, 3% and 1% respectively – possibly because of the seasonal effect. The price of peanuts fell by 1%.
The seasonal effect also impacted other commodities. 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 report said prices of garlic, ginger and turmeric came down by 17%, 17% and 2% respectively while among pulses, 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 4%, 4%, 1% and 1% increases.
Price of wheat grain was down 2% while that of wheat flour by 1%. However, there was 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 1% increase.
Prices of live chicken and chicken meat decreased by 9% but eggs’ price went up by 1%.
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.
Prices of cooking oil monitored showed mustard oil registering a 1% increase. 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. Prices of vegetable, dal and beef plates each decreased by 2% while the price of a cup of tea rose by 1%.
About FAFEN:
FAFEN is a network of 42 civil society organizations working to foster democratic accountabilities in Pakistan. It is governed by the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability.
