Fruit, vegetable and chicken prices fall, sales rise

LAHORE – Sunday was a good for the citizens, because fruit and vegetable prices declined, and for the Sunday bazaars’ administrations, because public complaints reduced. The prices of onion, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and chicken decreased by around Rs 5 to 15 per Kg.
“Onion and garlic prices had gone out of control, making difficult for us to manage the budget. The price reduction shows that the government could control prices if and when it wanted to,” said a housewife, Rabia Majeed. Javed Ahmed, a customer, said the prices could come down if the gap between demand and supply ended. He said the middlemen exploited the market and created artificial shortage for extorting money.
The vendors were also happy, as their sales doubled owing to a decrease in prices. “High prices induce lower sales and my profit margin had squeezed, but now things are getting normal,” said Waheed Asghar, a vegetable seller at Green Town Sunday Bazaar. He said onion and garlic sales doubled as compared to previous weeks. “In the recent weeks, I used to sell 30 – 40 kg of onions per day, today I sold more than 60 kg,” he added.
Chicken prices also reduced by Rs 7 per kg because of an enhanced production in the poultry farms. “Chicken supply is high and demand is moderate, which reduced the prices and increased the sales,” said Kamran Nagina, said a chicken seller.
Similarly, fruit prices, including apple and orange prices, fell by Rs 5-10 per kg. “Recent rains have a good impact on production of kinnows and oranges and it has decreased the prices,” said Shahid Ali, a fruit seller.