By Hamza Habib

Copyright brecorder

ISLAMABAD: The prices of essential kitchen items showing a declining trend as supply returning to normalcy as much of the monsoon rains and floods havoc is over, revealed a survey conducted by Business Recorder on Saturday.

According to survey the price of chicken witnessed a substantial decline as it down from Rs 405 per kg to Rs 360 per kg. Chicken prices went down from Rs 15,400 to 13500 per 40kg in the wholesale market, and chicken meat is being sold in the range of Rs 600-650 against 650-700 in the previous week.

The prices of wheat flour after showing upward trend for quite sometime now on decline. The best quality wheat flour ex-mill price of 15kg bag is being sold at Rs 1,600 in retail compared to Rs 1800 in the previous week.

The shop owners seemed complaining about the unrealistic price list the Government want them to follow. “We just get Rs 50 per kg on 15 kg wheat flour bag but the Government want us to sell wheat flour less than the price we paid for that commodity,” one of the shop owners said.

Despite decreased in flour prices, the tandoor owners have kept the price of Roti, Naan and Paratha unchanged. Roti is priced at Rs20, Naan from Rs 23-25 and Paratha from Rs 50 to Rs 60. The tandoor owners took a plea that when the prices of wheat flour went up the local administration didn’t allow them to raise the prices of roti, naan and paratha and that’s why decrease in prices now doesn’t make any logic.

No fluctuation was also witnessed in bakery and confectionery item prices as normal size bread is available at Rs140, small size at Rs100/110. The prices of cooked food items remained stable as a cooked dal/vegetable plate at a normal hotel is available at Rs320, cooked beef plate at Rs550, cooked chicken plate at Rs500, cooked mutton at Rs750 and naan/ roti is being sold at Rs25/30.

The survey observed no changes in sugar price which is available at Rs 8,500 per 50 kg bag for license holder retailers in wholesale market while non-license holder retailers are purchasing the commodity from open market at Rs 9,200, which reflects complete failure of the government to ensure the availability of sugar in the market at official rate of Rs172 per kg as majority of the retailers are selling the commodity at Rs190/200 per kg.

Mutton and beef prices remained stable as normal quality mutton was available at Rs 2,200 per kg, normal quality boneless beef at Rs 1,400 per kg, and normal beef at Rs 1,100 per kg. Various varieties of fish are available in the range of Rs500 to Rs900 per kg.

No changes were witnessed in tea prices, as Lipton Yellow Label is available at Rs 2,200 per 900 grams pack and Islamabad Tea is available at Rs 1,800 per kg; normal quality turmeric powder price in wholesale remained stable at Rs550 per kg which retailers are selling it at Rs800 per kg. The rate of normal quality red chilli powder also remained stable at Rs550 per kg which retailers is selling at Rs800 per kg.

Pulses prices remained stable as maash pulse is available at Rs500 per kg, gram pulse at Rs300 per kg, whole gram pulse at Rs300 per kg, various varieties of bean lentils in the range of Rs430-520 per kg, moong pulse at Rs350 per kg, and masoor pulse at Rs280 per kg.

The prices of branded spices such as Shan, National, and others, also remained stable as a pack of 39 grams of spice is available at Rs140.

The prices of the various varieties of rice remained stable as the best quality basmati in wholesale market is available at Rs 13,500 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs380 per kg. Normal quality Basmati is available at Rs 12,500 per 40 kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs350 per kg, and broken Basmati at Rs 9,300 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs260 per kg.

Ghee/cooking oil prices witnessed a mixed trend as the price of B-grade ghee/oil went up from Rs 6,200 to Rs 6,500 per carton of 16 packs in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold at Rs420 per pack of 900 grams, while best quality cooking oil/ghee brands such as Dalda ghee in wholesale market are available at Rs 2,680 per 5kg tin which in retail are being sold at Rs 2,800 per 5-litre bottle.

Prices of packed milk brands Milk-Pak, Olpers and others remained stable at Rs 2,350 per carton while in retail 250ml packed milk is being sold at Rs95 per 250ml. Similarly, litre pack is being sole at Rs370 per litre. Fresh milk in some parts of the twin cities is being sold at Rs220 per kg while in some other parts at Rs230 per kg. Yogurt 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 powder milk is available at Rs 1,320 and 200gram pack at Rs700 per pack.

Bathing soaps’ prices remained stable as family-size Safeguard is available at Rs160 per pack while Dettol, Lux, Palmolives and others are available at Rs150 per pack, and detergent prices’ such as Ariel Surf, Brite, Express Power and others are available at Rs530 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.

Officially, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has fixed liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at Rs233 per kg, while retailers are still selling 15kg domestic LPG cylinder at Rs 4,000 against Rs 3,500 OGRA fixed price reflecting an overcharging of Rs500 per cylinder. Moreover, the retailers through decanting are selling the LPG on further escalated rates as they charge Rs300-330 per kg, reflecting an overcharging of Rs67-92 per kg. LPG traders and distributors have blamed the marketing companies for higher prices, saying the companies are supplying them the commodity on higher prices as a result retailers are left with no option other than shifting the price to the end consumers.

According to LPG traders, the LPG marketing companies and distributors are earning billions of rupees profit by overcharging the consumers, while the OGRA which totally depends on district administration including police have totally ignored the enforcement of official commodity rates. Moreover, LPG distributors and retailers are freely selling LPG by decanting in violation of the laws as a result every other day LPG cylinder blasts are claiming precious lives.

Overall vegetable prices witnessed a mixed trend as potatoes price went down from Rs4,500-7,500 to Rs4,300-6,600 per quintal, which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs75-110 per kg against official price of Rs55-80 per kg; onion price in wholesale market went down from Rs4,900-8,500 to Rs3,700-6,500 per quintal, which retail are being sold in the range of Rs90-150 against government set price of Rs48-78 per kg. Tomato prices went down from Rs2,500 to Rs1,250 per basket of 15kg, which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs130-150 against set price of Rs82-120 per kg.

Ginger price is stable at Rs1,500/1,600 per 5kg in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs450-500 per kg, garlic prices witnessed a mixed trend as local garlic is available at Rs800 per 5 kg which in retail is being sold at Rs220-250 per kg, Quetta garlic price went up from Rs1,000 to Rs1,200 per 5 kg which in retail is being sold at Rs280-300 per kg and China garlic price went up from Rs1,150 to Rs1,250 per 5kg in the wholesale market which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs270-320 per kg, however, majority of vendors are selling local garlic in the name of China/Quetta to maximize their profits, while the government has fixed local garlic price at Rs198-215, Quetta garlic at Rs242-253 and China garlic at Rs286-308.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025