PESHAWAR: Prices of essential food items — among them live chicken/ meat, vegetables, pulses, flour, cooking oil/ ghee, and fruits — remained on the high side in the retail market, revealed a survey conducted by Business Recorder on Sunday.
One kilogram of live chicken/ meat was being sold at Rs295 in the local market, while farm eggs were being sold at Rs300 per dozen, Chinese eggs at Rs450 and non-farm eggs at Rs500 per dozen, the survey showed.
Cow meat was available at Rs700 per kilogram, buffalo meat at Rs550-600 and mutton at Rs1400-1600 per kg.
A mixed trend was seen in the prices of vegetables. According to the survey, onion was being sold at Rs250 per kilogram while onion imported from Tajikistan was available at Rs200 per kilo.
However, the price of tomato dropped substantially as it was available at Rs80-100 per kg against the price of Rs120-150 per kilogram in the previous week. The prices of garlic and ginger remained on the high side as these were available at Rs450 per kilo and Rs300-400 per kilogram, respectively.
Green chilli was available in the market at Rs160-200 per kg, lemon at Rs150, and cucumber at Rs50 per kilogram, while a bundle of radish was being sold at Rs20-30.
Swat peas were still being sold at Rs300 per kilogram despite arrival of peas from the areas adjacent to Peshawar, which were available at Rs120-140 per kg. Capsicum was being sold at Rs120 per kilogram, tinda at Rs80, arvi at Rs150, ladyfinger at Rs100, cabbage at Rs80, cauliflower at Rs80, bitter gourd at Rs150, long gourd at Rs80-100, brinjal at Rs80, turnip at Rs80-100, seasoned potatoes at Rs80, fresh red-coloured potatoes at Rs70, and white-coloured potatoes at Rs70 per kg.
The prices of pulses/ food grains remained on the higher side in the local market. Good quality (sela) price was being sold at Rs300 per kg while low-quality rice was available at Rs270-290, daal mash at Rs400, daal masoor at Rs280, daal chilka (black) at Rs260, daal chilka (green) at Rs220, moong at Rs200, dhoti daal at Rs280, daal channa at Rs260, white lobiya at Rs220-240, and gram flour (besan) at Rs180-200 per kilogram, the survey revealed.
Flour prices remained stable as a 20kg bag of fine flour was available at Rs2250, that of Danedar flour at Rs2100 and those of other brands at Rs1500-2000. Price of an 80kg flour sack has remained unchanged at Rs8060.
Consumers told this reporter that bread makers have been continuously reducing the weight of roti as well as naan and buying them is unaffordable for most of them.
The prices of cooking oil/ ghee have remained stable as no increase or decrease was witnessed in them. A 5kg packet of sugar was available at Rs470-475 and the commodity was being sold at Rs95-98 per kilogram in the local market.
Buyers complained that bakers have been openly defying official rates, urging the local administration and food authorities to take notice of sub-standard items and high prices.
The prices of fruits were also on the higher side. Red apple imported from Afghanistan was being sold at Rs250-300 per kg, golden-coloured apple at Rs200, pomegranate at Rs200-250, persimmon at Rs150, guava at Rs150, muskmelon at Rs300-400 per piece or Rs100 per kilogram, and Banana at Rs90-100 per dozen.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed.