KARACHI: Customers are already dealing with high energy costs, but in the days before Ramadan, the cost of fruits and vegetables increased dramatically due to the government’s shoddy attempts to stop profiteering.
For example, the cost of onions has increased dramatically from Rs 150 to Rs 300 per kg, with some stores providing a small reprieve at Rs 250 per kg.
Unrestricted exports are mostly to blame for the price surge of onions, a staple of Ramadan meals, even though the entrance of onions from Afghanistan and Iran was meant to balance the supply and demand.
Of the 130 trucks of Sindh onions that were arrived a day ago, only 30 trucks were left for local consumption, according to a wholesaler at New Fruit and Sabzi Mandi on the Karachi Superhighway. The other 100 trucks were lifted for exporters.
Rates for fruits and vegetables have increased in the lack of efficient price monitoring.
Similar price rises have been observed for other necessities. Another popular product in Ramazan, potatoes, used to cost Rs50 per kg, but they now cost Rs80. Green chilies used to retail for around Rs200 per kilogram, but today they sell for Rs150, up from Rs80–100 per kg.
The cost of a kilogram of capsicum has risen to Rs400, whereas the cost of a kilogram of spinach has not altered to Rs80–100.
Without efficient price management, customers worry that Ramadan would bring additional difficult days, which will begin early next week.
Fruit pricing
The fruit sector has also been hit hard, with notable price rises for melons, apples, and bananas.
Melon (kharbooza) used to cost between Rs100 and Rs120, but today it costs between Rs150 and Rs200 per kilogram. Red golden apples and green kullu used to cost between Rs150 and Rs300 per kg.
Small-sized bananas used to cost Rs80, but now they cost Rs120 a dozen. Meanwhile, large, premium bananas used to cost Rs120–150 per dozen, but now they cost Rs200.
According to a fruit trader, the wholesale cost of thirty to forty dozen bananas has increased from Rs 2,800–3,000 a few days ago to over Rs 5,000.
The wholesale price of guava is Rs110–120 per kg, but its retail price is Rs150–200 per kg.
The head of the Karachi Fresh Fruits Association at Super Highway, Agha Qadeem, stated that there has been a 30–40% increase in the wholesale market price of fruits.
He claimed that with the increase in wholesale prices, a nice banana costs Rs 100 per dozen, while watermelon and melon cost Rs 120–130 per kilogram and Rs 80–90 per melon, respectively. According to him, the average cost of a kilogram of red and green apples is Rs. 180 and Rs. 120.
Mr. Qadeem stated that because of an anticipated large influx from the interior of Sindh, the arrival of melon and watermelon had been delayed by ten to fifteen days, and their prices were probably going to decrease by Ramadan’s tenth.
Regarding bananas, we have let the Karachi commissioner know that they are being smuggled into Afghanistan and Iran. Restrictive border monitoring aimed at reducing unauthorized immigration can contribute to lower local pricing, he stated.
In order to alleviate pressure on local market pricing, Mr. Qadeem pleaded with the government to forbid fruit exports during Ramadan.
Senior vice president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Altaf A. Ghaffar also urged Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to enact strict steps to counter the skyrocketing costs of everyday goods.
He accused well-known department stores and small business owners of maximizing profits by bypassing official price lists and denounced the widespread hoarding and profiteering that is causing inflation in a statement.
