ISLAMABAD: The prices of rice and pulse prices in Peshawar have skyrocketed within a span of three months and are expected to rise further as the effects of the floods become more clear.
Speaking with Profit, Traders on Ashraf Road, Peshawar’s main commodity market, said that people in the province are already bearing the high cost of flour and will now also have to pay higher prices for other dietary staples.
They informed this scribe that a bag of 24.50 kg rice which was available for Rs4,500 three months ago has risen by Rs1,750 in three months, taking the price in Peshawar to Rs6,250. Similarly, a 45 kg bag of matta rice which was available for Rs2,500 has increased to Rs4,000 while a bag of 49 kg super fine rice which used to be for Rs3,000, is now being sold for Rs5,000.
Informing that beans are imported from Tajikistan in Peshawar, they said the price of a 50kg bag of beans which was Rs8,000 in January, has increased to Rs13,000. Similarly, masoor dal which was available for Rs7,000 per 49 kg bag in January, has now increased to Rs14,000.
Gram is imported from Vietnam and Sudan. In January, a 49 kg bag of 10 mm gram was available for Rs8,000 which has now increased to Rs15,000.
The traders said that since trucks carrying relief goods for flood victims are being looted, most of them have stopped transporting goods from other parts of the country, due to which there is a risk that the prices of food commodities will see a further hike within the next few weeks.
They said that over the course of a year, prices of most commodities have increased by 100 per cent whereas the devastating floods are also likely to negatively influence the prices.
