ISLAMABAD: Food prices in Pakistan have been increasing for 11 consecutive months, eroding the purchasing power of households by as much as 38 percent, says the World Bank.

The bank in its latest, “Food Security Update”, stated that the consumer price inflation for food items in Pakistan was 47.2 per cent in March 2023 on a year-on-year basis – the highest in South Asia after Sri Lanka with 47.6 per cent.

However, the data suggests that the CPI is declining in Sri Lanka for the last several months while it is on the rise in Pakistan. In Sri Lanka, CPI was 49 percent in February and came down to 47.6 percent, however in Pakistan, it increased from 45.1 percent to 47.2 percent.

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The bank stated that in Pakistan, the World Food Programme (WFP) Market Monitor Report reports year-on-year CPI food inflation of 43 percent in January 2023, with wide differences between commodities such as onions (228 percent), wheat flour (121 percent), bananas (90 per cent), rice (81 per cent), eggs (80 per cent), pulses (57-69 per cent), and potatoes (57 per cent). Food prices have been increasing for 11 consecutive months, eroding the purchasing power of households by as much as 38 per cent.

The Pakistani approved a wheat procurement target of 1.80 million tonnes at a uniform procurement price of 3,900 rupees ($15) per 40 kg in February to stabilize the wheat market in the face of increases in regional demand, limited carry-forward stocks, and high domestic wheat prices.

In response to the 2022 International Wheat Tender, 200,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia entered and is being stored in Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation Ltd storage centers.

The report further noted that domestic wheat prices followed global prices movements closely in the European Union and United States, whereas domestic prices in China, India, and Pakistan experienced much less volatility and response to world prices.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023