ISLAMABAD: The prices of the essential kitchen items have witnessed a further decline during this week past against the previous week, revealed a survey carried out by Business Recorder here on Saturday.
The survey observed chicken prices went down from Rs15,700 to Rs15,500 per 40kg in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold at Rs415 against Rs425 per kg and chicken meat is available at Rs570 against Rs700 kg. Eggs’ prices went down from Rs6,000 to Rs5,700 per carton of 30 dozen, which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs220-230 against Rs230-250 per dozen. Sugar price in the wholesale market went up from Rs6,800 to Rs7,300 per 50kg bag, while in retail it is being sold at Rs155 against Rs150 per kg.
Mutton and beef prices remained stable as normal quality mutton is available at Rs2,100 per kg, normal quality boneless beef at Rs1,250 per kg, and normal beef at Rs1,050. Various types of fishes are available in the range of Rs500 to Rs900 per kg. Tea prices witnessed no changes as Lipton Yellow Label is available at Rs2,200 per 900 grams pack and Islamabad Tea is available at Rs1,800 per kg; normal quality turmeric powder is available at Rs700 per kg and normal quality red chili powder at Rs700 per kg.
Wheat flour prices remained stable as the best quality flour is available at Rs1,300 per 15kg bag in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold at Rs1,340 per bag and normal quality wheat flour Rs1,280 per 15kg bag which in retail is being sold at Rs1,320 .
The pulses’ prices remained stable as in the retail market, the best quality maash is available at Rs470 per kg, gram pulse at Rs350 per kg, whole gram pulse at Rs330 per kg, various varieties of bean lentils are available in the range of Rs430-530 per kg, moong at Rs300 per kg, and masoor price at Rs300 per kg. The prices of cooked food items remained stable as a cooked daal/vegetable plate at a normal hotel is available at Rs320, a cooked beef plate at Rs550, a cooked chicken plate at Rs500, a cooked mutton at Rs750 and naan/roti is being sold at Rs25/30.
The prices of branded spices such as Shan, National, and others, witnessed no changes, as a pack of 39 grams of spice is available at Rs140. Prices of the various varieties of rice remained stable as the best quality basmati in the wholesale market is available at Rs11,500 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs320 per kg, normal quality Basmati at Rs9,500 per 40 kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs280 per kg, and broken Basmati at Rs7,000 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs200 per kg.
Ghee/cooking oil prices witnessed a reduction as B-grade ghee/oil price went down from Rs6,600 to Rs6,500 per carton of 16 packs in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold at Rs480 per pack of 900 grams, while best quality cooking oil/ghee brands such as Dalda ghee price went down from Rs2,800 to Rs2,790 per 5kg tin and cooking oil from Rs2,800 to Rs2,790 per 5-litre bottle. Prices of packed milk brands such as Milk Pak and Olpers in wholesale market remained stable at Rs2,340 per carton while in retail 250ml packed milk is being sold at Rs90 and Rs350 per litre. Fresh milk prices in some parts of the twin cities are being sold at Rs220 per kg while in some parts is still being sold at Rs230 per kg and yoghurt price is stable at Rs250 per kg. No changes were observed in the prices of powder milk such as Nido and Lactogen as 400gram Nido powdered milk is available at Rs1,320 and 200gram pack at Rs700 per pack.
The survey observed no changes in bathing soaps’ prices as family-size Safeguard and Dettol-like soaps are available at Rs150 per pack, family-size Lux at Rs140, and detergent prices also remained stable as Ariel Surf, Brite, Express Power and others are available at Rs550 per kg pack. The prices of various brands of cold drinks such as Pepsi, Coke, Miranda and others remained stable as family-size bottle is available at Rs230.
No changes were witnessed in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as the officially LPG is available at Rs250 per kg while in the market LPG is being sold in the range of Rs310-350 per kg, which is Rs60-100 per kg higher than the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA)’s set price of Rs250 per kg. LPG traders, the LPG distributors have blamed the marketing companies for higher prices saying marketing companies are supplying them the commodity on higher prices as a result retailers are left with no option other than overcharging the consumers. According to LPG traders, the LPG marketing companies are earning billions of rupees profit by overcharging the consumers, while the OGRA and other relevant departments from federal government to provincial governments have totally ignored the enforcement of official commodity rates.
Prices of vegetables witnessed a declining trend as potato prices is stable at Rs120-200 per 5kg in the wholesale market, which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs40-75 per kg; onion price is stable at Rs180-280 per 5kg , which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs60-90 against Rs75-100 per kg and tomato price is stable in wholesale market at Rs125-200 per 5kg, which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs50-75. Ginger price went up from Rs1,200 to Rs1,300 per 5kg in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs380-400 against Rs350-370 per kg, China garlic price remained stable at Rs2,700 per 5kg in the wholesale market which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs600-650 per kg.
Capsicum price went down from Rs400 to Rs300 per 5kg in the wholesale market which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs90-100 against Rs120-130 per kg, various varieties of pumpkins are available in the range of Rs180-250 against Rs150-220 per 5kg in wholesale market, which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs60-90 against Rs50-70 per kg; various types of tinda prices went up from Rs125-150 to Rs180-200 per 5kg which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs60-70 against Rs50-55 per kg; eggplant price went up from Rs200 to Rs250 per 5kg, which in retail are being sold at Rs70-80 against Rs60-75 per kg; cauliflower price went up from Rs130 to Rs170 per 5kg, which in retail is being sold in the range of55-60 against Rs50-55 per kg and cabbage price is stable at Rs100 per 5kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs45-50 per kg. Bitter gourd price is stable at Rs400 per 5kg which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs120-140 per kg, green chili price went down from Rs400-550 to Rs300-400 per 5kg in the wholesale market which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs80-125 against Rs100-170, carrot price is stable at Rs150 per 5kg which in retail is being sold at Rs50-60 per kg and cucumber price went down from Rs250 to Rs200 per 5kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs70-80.
Yam price went up from Rs600 to Rs750 per 5kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs170-180 against Rs150-160 per kg; turnip price is stable at Rs60 per 5kg which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs35-40 per kg; peas price went down from Rs250 to Rs230 per 5kg which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs70-90 against Rs75-100 per kg; radish price went down from Rs70 to Rs50 per 5kg which in retail is being sold at Rs25-30 against Rs30-35 per kg, spinach price went down from Rs80 to Rs50 per kg which in retail is being sold at Rs20-25 against Rs30-40 per bundle.
Fruit prices witnessed an increasing trend as various types of local apples are available in the range of Rs100-320 against Rs80-280 per kg, guava price went up from Rs120-150 to Rs130-190 per kg. Bananas are available in the range of Rs70-200 against Rs60-170 per dozen; various varieties of oranges are available in the range of Rs800-300 against Rs70-270 per dozen. Various varieties of grapes are being sold in the range of Rs280-325 against Rs210-300 per kg; pomegranates in the range of Rs300-400 per kg.
Business Recorder has noted a significant difference between the wholesale market prices, official prices fixed by market committees, which consist of commissioners, deputy commissioners (DCs), assistant commissioners (ACs), the special price control magistrates, representatives of wholesalers, retailers and the general public.
Whenever the retailers are mentioned they are overcharging the consumers and not following the official price list, they argue that some quantity of fruits, vegetables and other products they purchase from the wholesale market always remains rotten. For instance, DC office has fixed onion price at Rs99-140 per kg (with a minimum profit margin of Rs15 per kg for retailers) while retailers are charging Rs120-160 per kg by making various excuses from some quantity was rotten to high transportation charges to high rents. Similarly maximum retail price of tomatoes is Rs185 per kg while a majority of retailers are selling tomatoes in the range of Rs200-250, DC fixed price of cucumber is Rs37-42 as in wholesales market it costs Rs120 kg per bag which consists of over 5 kg, while majority of retailers are charging the consumers Rs80-100, which reflect more than 100 percent overcharging.
People from different segments of society, while talking to this correspondent, mentioning the differences in official prices and regular reduction in the prices of various vegetables and fruits lamented that the retailers are not passing on the full benefit to the end consumers. Consumers mentioned that in recent weeks the prices of banana, guava, tomatoes and okra like fruit and vegetables prices have witnessed a reduction in the wholesale market while the retailers are still overcharging. People said that the retailers are always violating the official price list and sell all the items at higher rates. Consumers have blamed ineffective monitoring by commissioners, DCs, ACs, the special price control magistrates, and other relevant departments, consumers for artificial price hike. They said that people were left at the mercy of the vendors as they were free to charge their own prices of not only vegetables and fruits but of other items too.
They said one vendor was selling grapes in the range of Rs200-300 per kg and another at Rs250-500 per kg of same quality while the official price is Rs200-280 per kg; mutton on some shops was available at Rs2,000 per kg and same quality of mutton was being sold at Rs2,200 per kg at others; wheat flour was available at Rs1,370 per 15kg bag on one shop and another shopkeeper was selling the same quality of the commodity at Rs1,380. They urged the government to strictly enforce the official price list daily and weekly and prepare it in consultation with the respective traders’ unions and punish the violators.
Business Recorder has observed and repeatedly reported that retailers, vendors, and other sellers are not displaying official price lists of household items at a prominent place and are not even providing on demand, which they are legally bound to provide the consumers and display at a prominent place.
According to traders, over the past few years, continuous increase in fuel and utilities’ costs significantly contributed to increasing the prices. They attributed around 20 per cent increase in the prices of all the items to an increase in gas and electricity bills. Traders are also forced to move up their margins to meet ever-increasing expenditure from salaries to transportation costs and other miscellaneous expenses.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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