RAWALPINDI:
Measures taken for price control have proved ineffective as beef, mutton, chicken, fruit and vegetables are being sold at arbitrary prices in the open market. Except for potatoes, almost everything has become expensive and inflation has reached a peak on the 19th of Ramazan.
A heavy increase in petroleum prices expected around Eidul Fitr is likely to trigger another wave of inflation.
Seven days of the second Ashra of Ramazan have been completed but all measures taken so far to control inflation in the open market have failed.
Currently, bone-in beef is being sold at Rs1,400 per kg while boneless beef is priced at Rs1,600 per kg. Mutton is being sold at Rs2,600 per kg and chicken meat at Rs600 per kg.
A dozen cleaned goat trotters are being sold for Rs2,600 while four cleaned cow trotters are priced at Rs4,200.
Butchers and poultry sellers have fixed their own prices and further increases are expected before Eid.
The situation is similar in the fruit market where apples are being sold at Rs550 per kg, bananas at Rs280 per dozen, guavas at Rs250 per kg and kinnow at Rs350 per dozen.
Among vegetables, potatoes are being sold at Rs120 for five kilograms, making them the only relatively cheap vegetable left amid the inflation wave. Prices of all other vegetables have increased during Ramazan.
Citizens say the abnormal increase in food prices in the open market should be controlled so that people can complete the remaining 11 fasts without facing the burden of inflation.
On the other hand, sellers of meat, chicken, vegetables and fruits say they can only sell goods after adding their expenses and profit to the purchase price.
Meanwhile, the expected heavy increase in petroleum prices from the 19th of Ramazan is likely to further intensify the inflation wave.
It may be noted that the Punjab government had taken strict measures for price control this year, but despite these efforts the rising inflation could not be contained.
