No method has been devised to check the prices of commodities being sold in the markets of Pakistan, said Karachi Retail Grocers Alliance Adviser Farooq Memon while talking to Pakistan Today. Statistics show that the prices of household commodities have increased marginally over the last year. Oil/ghee took the lead with an increase of 55 percent in their prices, whereas the rate of spices increased by 25 percent.
Moreover, prices of pulses increased by 21.5 percent, rice by 7.5 percent, dry fruits by 25 percent, daily-use general items by 18 percent, detergents by 12.5 percent, and daily-use chemicals by 30 percent. Citing the example of the surge in the price of petrol that jumped to Rs 86 from Rs 57 after former president Pervez Musharraf stepped down, Memon said that the prices of interlinked basic commodities are never checked once they are decreased.
He said that after the new government took over, it once again restored the petrol price to Rs 57, but by this time a pickup’s fare had increased to Rs 1,300 from Rs 800. Once the petrol prices were restored, fares should also have been brought down, but they were not, he added. He also said that when the petrol price surged to Rs 67, the pickup owners increased their fare to Rs 1,500.
Similarly, when the petrol price increased to Rs 72, the transporters protested and had their fare increased to Rs 1,800, he added.
He further said that when the petrol price reached Rs 83, the transporters increased their fare to Rs 2,200.
“There should b a proper system in place that checks the prices of commodities or the government should try to keep the prices steady at least for a year so that the interlinked commodities’ prices do not increase,” he added.