Chicken prices registered a sharp increase ahead of the holy month of Ramzan as this essential food item was being sold up to Rs 195 per kg in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The live chicken available at Rs 175 to Rs 180 per kg till last week suddenly shot up to Rs 195 in different markets on Monday.
When contacted, Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) Senior Vice Chairman Abdul Maroof Siddiqui told the news agency that the rise was due to a sharp increase in demand in the month of Ramzan, adding, the prices would come down within a week.
He said the representatives of the association would shortly hold a meeting with the stakeholder to control the hike in prices.
PPA (South Zone) Vice Chairman Muhammad Javed Aslam said the association had played its role to stabilise the chicken prices in the month of Ramzan last year.
He said, during this Ramzan, all-out efforts would be made to bring chicken prices down.
Javed Aslam said the price of chicken would soon slide back to previous levels following the supply from northern parts of the country to the markets.
Earlier, the PPA had assured the concerned authorities to sell live chicken up to Rs 145 per kg and chicken meat up to Rs 200 per kg respectively in the markets since the government had not imposed new taxes on poultry products.
It may be mentioned here that the representatives of Pakistan Poultry Association and other stakeholders had assured the finance minister to maintain chicken prices during the financial year 2016-17.