Wheat flour prices have witnessed sharp increase in open markets of Sindh, particularly it is recorded at highest level in two main cities of the province, including Karachi and Hyderabadas compared to other markets across the country.
According to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, the price of a 20 kg wheat flour bag in Karachi was recorded at Rs1,350, whereas price of 20 kg wheat flour bag in Hyderabad was recorded at Rs1,240 which was the highest price as compared to the other markets across the country.
Meanwhile, the average price of 20 kg flour bag in Quetta was recorded at Rs1,240, whereas in Khuzdar and Rawalpinid it was registered at Rs1,200 respectively, whereas in Islamabad price of 20 kg wheat flour was recorded at Rs1,170, in Sukkur it was registered at Rs1,140, Peshawar and Bannu it was recorded at Rs1,130 respectively.
A 20 kg wheat flour bag in Gujranwala was stood at Rs1,100, Multan Rs1,080, Sargodha Rs1,070, Bahawalpur Rs1,050 and in Faisalabad it was recorded at Rs1,020 per 20 kg, the data reveled.
It may be recalled here that the prices of various food items went down during the week ending on August 12, as compared to the previous week, the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics revealed.
According to the data, the prices of food items that witnessed decrease included bananas, prices of which decreased by 3.82 per cent whereas prices of eggs declined by 1.76 per cent on Week-on-Week basis.
Likewise, the prices of onions, Moong pulse and Masoor pulse declined by 1.72 per cent, 1.32 percent and 0.37 per cent.
Among non-food items, the prices of LPG decreased by 0.71 per cent.On Year-on-Year basis the prices of potatoes decreased by 21.8 per cent whereas that of Moong pulse declined by 20.20.
On the other hand, the food items that witnessed increase in prices on WoW basis included tomatoes, the prices of which increased by 37.47 percent where as chicken prices climbed up by 9.21 percent.
Prices of garlic, potatoes, vegetable ghee (2.5 kg tin) and gur also increased by 4.45 per cent, 1.31 per cent, 1.16 per cent and 1.07 percent respectively.
On year-on-year basis, the prices of tomatoes increased by 39.97 percent, chilliesby 35.71 per cent, vegetable ghee (1kg) by 34.34 per cent, vegetable ghee (2.5 kg tin) by 34.15 per cent, mustard oil by 34.01 per cent, cooking oil (5 litre tin) by 32.89 per cent and chicken by 23.08 percent.
Among non-food items, the electricity charges for Quarter 1 increased by 60.81 per cent, LPG by 57.82 per cent, gents sandal by 33.37 per cent and gents sponge chappal by 25.13 per cent.It is pertinent to mention here that the overall SPI based weekly inflation for the week ended on August 12 recorded an increase of 0.61 per cent compared to the previous week.
The weekly SPI with base year 2015-16=100 is covering 17 urban centers and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 18 (35.29%) items increased 06 (11.76%) items decreased and 27 (52.94%) items remained constant.
