A report based on prices collected from 200 retail outlets in 118 districts in December
ISLAMABAD, 9th January 2013: Prices of 27 commodities, including all fruit, poultry, kitchen fuel, medicines and medical services increased by up to 10% in December as compared with November while those of 13 registered decrease; among them were vegetables, pulses, spices and condiments says a Free and Fair Election Report (FAFEN) released on Wednesday.
FAFEN observers who visited 200 retail outlets in 118 districts to collect prices of 52 commodities reported rise in prices of all fruit with golden apples increasing 6%, bananas 3% and dark red apples 2%.
Similarly, poultry product prices also went up – farm eggs (4%), live chicken (3%) and chicken meat (2%). A 1% increase was seen in prices of beef and mutton also.
Among rice varieties, basmati-386 and basmati broken registered a price increase of 1% each. The prices of wheat grain (3%) and wheat flour (2%) also shot up as did those of kitchen fuel – LPG 10%, firewood (4%) and kerosene oil (1%).
However, prices of most vegetables decreased in the reporting month as compared with the preceding one with onions down 19% and potatoes (4%). Pulses also witnessed a drop – black gram (5%), chickpeas, gram pulse (3% each), white beans, washed moong (2% each), and masoor and mash (1% each).
Among spices and condiments, ginger went down 7%, loose turmeric, red chili powder (2% each) and salt powder (1%).
As for medicines and medical services, blood test (complete picture) saw a hike of 5%; urine test up 4% and blood sugar test 3%. Besides, Panadol 10-tablets also recorded a 2% increase.
A comparison of prices collected in December 2011 with the ones recorded in December 2012, shows an average increase of 15% in prices of kitchen fuel; followed by those of rice varieties and poultry (13% each), pulses (9%), meat (8%), cooking oil (6%) and fruits (1%).
On the other hand, average prices of vegetables registered a drop of 15% in December 2012 when compared with the prices in the same month last year.
