The Punjab government has set the new price of plain bread in the province at Rs 14, effective from tomorrow.
Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz issued a statement on the reduction in the price of naan, stating that while the price of plain bread is fixed at 14 rupees in Lahore, prices in other cities is fixed at 12 to 14 rupees.
Previously, the Punjab government had reduced naan price to Rs 16.
Global food prices rose in March, the first increase since July, pulled higher by cooking oil prices despite the cost of grains continuing to ease, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization said Friday.
The FAO’s overall Food Price Index climbed 1.1 percent over the month to stand at 118.3 points in March 2024. On an annual comparison it was 7.7 percent lower.
The sub-index for vegetable oils jumped by 8.0 percent over the month to reach a one-year high. The FAO said prices for palm, soy, sunflower and rapeseed oils all climbed higher.
Rising palm oil prices were driven by seasonal drops in output in leading producing nations that coincided with strong demand in Southeast Asia, while demand from the biofuel sector pulled up soy oil prices.
Dairy prices rose by 2.9 percent in March on a monthly basis, while meat prices climbed 1.7 percent.
Meanwhile, cereals prices slid 2.6 percent on a monthly basis, while sugar prices fell 5.4 percent.
Food prices reached a record high after Russia invaded agricultural power Ukraine in February 2022 but have dropped since then.
Last month’s uptick comes as inflation has slowed dramatically in many countries but a recent rebound in global oil prices has sparked concern it may persist at a level that could discourage central banks from cutting interest rates.
Despite coming down marginally, weekly inflation remains above 45 per cent and stood at 45.72 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis for the week ended on 18th May 2023, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PSB) on Friday.
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based inflation for the week ended 11th May 2023, recorded a decrease of 0.16 per cent over the previous week due to a decrease in the prices of food and non-food items.
The year-on-year trend posted an increase due to an increase in the prices of Cigarettes (138.50 per cent), Tea Lipton (114.93 per cent), Potatoes (114.69 per cent), Gas Charges for Q1 (108.38 per cent), Bananas (104.44 per cent), Gents Sponge Chappal (100.33 per cent), Wheat Flour (90.77 per cent), Rice Basmati Broken (86.30 per cent), Eggs (85.86 per cent), Rice Irri-6/9 (80.44 per cent), Petrol (79.85 per cent), Diesel (78.68 per cent), Pulse Moong (66.79 per cent), Bread (63.17 per cent), and Pulse Mash (57.06 per cent), while a decrease was observed in the prices of Tomatoes (38.30 per cent), Onions (30.18 per cent), and Chilies Powdered (6.48 per cent).
A decrease was observed in the prices of food items: Onions (9.04 per cent), Garlic (1.76 per cent), Sugar (1.42 per cent), Wheat Flour (1.40 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 2.5kg (0.63 per cent), Mustard Oil (0.48 per cent), Pulse Masoor (0.40 per cent), Pulse Gram (0.12 per cent), and Vegetable Ghee 1kg (0.11 per cent); and non-food items: Diesel (10.38 per cent), Petrol (4.24 per cent), LPG (3.02 per cent), and Firewood (0.89 per cent).
On the other hand, an increase was observed in the prices of Chicken (7.51 per cent), Tea Lipton (4.53 per cent), Gur (2.79 per cent), Eggs (2.29 per cent), Energy Saver (2.22 per cent), Tomatoes (2.11 per cent), Tea Prepared (1.09 per cent), and Curd (1.08 per cent).
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 23 (45.10 per cent) items increased, 13 (25.49 per cent) items decreased, and 15 (29.41 per cent) items remained stable.
According to data provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday, edible oil, sugar, and vegetables helped drive the weekly inflation up to 41.07 percent on an annual basis.
Sensitive Price Index (SPI) measurements of short-term inflation were still on the high side and would go up much more once customers start to feel the full effects of increased electricity tariffs.
The cost of bananas, chicken, sugar, cooking oil, gas, and cigarettes increased for the week ending March 2, despite a 0.30 percent weekly decline in inflation.
Of the 51 items, 32 saw price increases, nine saw price decreases, and 10 witnessed no change in price.
The items whose prices rose the greatest during the reviewed week in comparison to the same week last year were: onions (311.17 per cent), cigarettes (165.86 per cent), gas charges for Q1 (108.38 per cent), diesel (93.82 per cent), petrol (77.89 per cent), eggs (77.83 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (76.96 per cent), rice basmati broken (75.55 per cent), pulse moong (73.30 per cent), bananas (72.66 per cent), chicken (64.70 per cent) and tea Lipton (64.53 per cent).
Moreover, the highest year-on-year fall was recorded in the prices of tomatoes (56.29 per cent), chillies powdered (7.42 per cent).
The prices of bananas (7.34 per cent), long cloth (3.44 per cent), energy saver (3.33 per cent), 1Kg vegetable ghee (2.48 per cent), gur (2.03 per cent), cooked daal (1.87 per cent), Lipton tea (1.79 per cent), match box (1.66 per cent), lawn printed (1.52 per cent), 5-litre cooking oil (1.45 per cent), and sugar (1.07 per cent) experienced the biggest week-on-week increase.
On the other hand, the prices of onions (13.24 per cent), eggs (6.11 per cent), garlic (4.24 per cent), chicken (2.00 per cent), tomatoes (0.59 per cent), gram pulse (0.38 per cent), and potatoes (0.33 per cent) decreased compared to the previous week. However, LPG (1.84 per cent) and petrol (1.80 per cent) saw an increase in prices.
The government, under the IMF’s conditions, has been implementing strict measures to cool the economy and curb inflation. The policy rate increase and the general sales tax increase from 17 per cent to 18 per cent are expected to further increase the retail price of consumer goods.
To generate revenue and bridge the fiscal deficit, the government has already taken several measures, including adopting a market-based exchange rate, increasing fuel and power tariffs, withdrawing subsidies, and imposing more taxes.
As a result of these measures, the government has revised its annual inflation rate projection from 26 per cent to 31 per cent.
Pakistan’s inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), surged to a record-breaking 31.5 per cent in February, largely driven by steep price hikes in food, housing, and transportation groups. This concerning development was recently reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), and has heightened expectations of an increase in interest rates during the upcoming monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting, which the central bank has scheduled for March 2.
The February inflation rate marks the highest figure since available data dating back to July 1965, surpassing the previous record of slightly over 29 per cent in April 1975. The unexpected pace of price increases has surpassed the finance ministry’s expectations, who had projected an inflation range of 28 per cent to 30 per cent just a day before the report.
According to Geo, the monthly inflation rate surged by 4.3 per cent in February compared to January, primarily due to increased average prices of food items such as poultry, fruits, pulses, oil, vegetables, ghee, LPG, gas charges, and domestic petroleum products.
The inflation reading raises concerns that the government will need to review its strategy to secure the critical $1.1 loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Despite repeated efforts, the government has been unable to regain lost ground with the IMF and is continually delivering financial shocks to the people.
According to PBS, the inflation rate rose in both urban and rural areas. Urban inflation increased to 28.8 per cent in February, while rural inflation soared to 35.6 per cent compared to the same month last year. In February of the previous year, urban inflation was recorded at 11.5 per cent, while rural inflation was at 13.3 per cent.
The Nanbai Association in Punjab’s capital city has hinted at increasing the price of naan and roti in the city, calling a meeting to determine the price.
The prices of Roti and Naan are expected to increase by Rs2 to Rs3.
According to details, Aftab Gul, the President of the Association, has said that the increase in the price of roti and naan has been proposed because of the increase in price of wheat in the market. In addition, he said that non-availability of gas, wood and expensive LPG are among reasons behind the expected increase.
Aftab Gul also said that the price of a 15 kg bag of wheat has increased from Rs1400 to Rs1775, while a bag of fine flour has increased from Rs8500 to Rs9500.
Pak-Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) will no longer sell the Suzuki Bolan’s AC variant. After almost 15 years, this variation was finally introduced last year, and tragically, its production will cease once again.
The company’s decision to stop producing the AC variant of the Suzuki Bolan is a blatant indication that it has failed to pique consumer interest for a variety of reasons, some of which include its inflated cost and the extraordinarily uncomfortable ride.
Despite all of these factors, other variants of Suzuki Bolan are extremely common in Pakistan and are seen running on almost every road and in every city.
The first Suzuki Bolan with AC was introduced in 2006-2007, however it was a flop due to overheating, poor engine performance, and subpar AC.
Moreover, the Bolan’s engine is housed underneath the driver’s seat, which makes it extremely challenging for the driver and front passenger to sit, particularly when the engine is hot.
Despite expectations that the AC variation would be successful this time, it was not able to attract buyers.
The sensitive price indicator (SPI) hit an annualised high of 38.63 per cent due to a lack of perishable goods brought on by severe rains, and weekly inflation increased by 0.82 per cent for the seven days ending August 4, 2022.
The base for most cooked meals in the country is an onion and tomato. Onions increased in price from Rs75.41/kg to Rs94.2/kg while tomatoes increased from Rs74.07/kg to Rs82.91/kg.
Data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) indicates that the increase is attributable to the increased price of diesel (109.15 per cent), onions (107.95 per cent), pulse masoor (106.71 per cent), petrol (88.94 per cent), cooking oil 5 litre (74.44 per cent), mustard oil (73.89 per cent), chicken (73.42 per cent), vegetable ghee 1 kg and 2 kg (72.26 and 70.48 per cent), washing soap (62.62 per cent), pulse gramme (59.07 per cent), electricity for Q1 (52.61 per cent), gents sponge slippers (52.21 per cent), pulse maash (46.01 per cent) and garlic (41.16 per cent).
According to The News, consumers are struggling with soaring food and fuel prices. Hi-speed diesel was being sold last August 5 for Rs117.58 per litre, but it is now Rs245.92 per litre.
Various items in the SPI basket are given varying weightages. The goods with the heaviest weights in the bottom quintile are milk (17.5449 per cent), electricity (8.3627 per cent), wheat flour (6.1372 per cent), sugar (5.1148 per cent), firewood (5.0183 per cent), long cloth (4.2221 per cent), and vegetable ghee (3.2833 per cent).
While the cost of firewood and electricity remained consistent, the cost of milk, wheat flour, sugar, long fabric, and vegetable ghee 2.5kg increased. Vegetable ghee 1kg saw a decrease in price.
SPI is made up of 51 necessities that were gathered from 50 markets spread over 17 cities across the nation.
Out of 51 goods, 33 (64.71 per cent) of the prices rose during the week, 4 (7.84 per cent) of the prices fell, and only 14 (27.45 per cent) of the prices kept the same.
The price of onions increased by 24.92 per cent, tomatoes by 11.93 per cent, pulse moong by 5.72 per cent, pulse mash by 5.28 per cent, potatoes by 5.03 per cent, pulse masoor by 4.43 per cent, diesel by 3.78 per cent, pulse gramme by 2.69 per cent, eggs by 2.44 per cent, powdered milk by 1.61 per cent, gur by 1.53 per cent, LPG by 1.49 per cent, salt by 1.46 per cent, and garlic by 1.30 per cent on a WoW basis.
Hyundai-Nishat Motors raised the pricing of its Tucson variants by Rs1.1 million, citing the decline in the currency as the primary cause, following Lucky Motor Corporation’s price increases for its KIA-brand vehicles.
After an increase of Rs1.1 million price increase for the c, the Hyundai Tucson FWD model is now offered for Rs6.89 million. The price of the AWD version has increased by Rs1.1 million to Rs7.39 million.
According to a sales representative, the company would accept reservations upon full payment, and delivery is anticipated to occur in August and not take longer than 60 days.
Prior to that, Lucky Motor announced an increase in the prices of its KIA-brand vehicles starting on July 19, with the rise reaching as high as Rs1.1 million.
The corporation said that the ongoing depreciation of the rupee versus the dollar was to blame for their need to raise pricing.
“Kia and Hyundai have taken the initiative to increase car prices but the rest of the automakers will follow too,” said Sunny Kumar, Research Analyst at Topline Securities.
“The last pricing most of the carmakers did was when the dollar stood at Rs185. It has now crossed Rs225. The price hike was imminent and announcements from other automakers could be expected anytime now.”
According to Brecorder, the CEO of Lucky Motor Corp, Asif Rizvi, acknowledged that the auto sector primarily employs imported materials and that localised parts also contain a large percentage of foreign components while speaking on the sidelines of the Peugeot 2008 launch in March.
In June 2022, overall sales of petroleum and lubricants were 1.93 million tonnes, down 11 per cent from the previous month but unchanged from the previous year.
Petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) sales both experienced significant monthly declines, falling by 12 and 16 per cent, respectively.
Sales of all oil products rose by 16 per cent YoY to 22.595 million tonnes during FY22 from 19.45 million tonnes during the same period in FY21.
Analyzing the data demonstrates that expansion was seen in all categories, with offtake increasing to 8.95 million tonnes, 8.87 million tonnes, and 4.04 million tonnes, respectively, up by 9 per cent, 15 per cent, and 35 per cent on YoY compared to the same period last year.
Ismail Iqbal Securities analyst Abdullah Umer stated, “We believe that significant rise in both diesel and petrol prices are the main reason behind the decline in retail sales.”
According to the brokerage house, “Healthy economic activity, robust agricultural activity, upbeat automobile sales, and curb of HSD smuggling remained major drivers behind such stupendous growth.”
Although the current government has chosen to manage petroleum product prices by levying a Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) and sales tax even if international oil prices decline, the brokerage house anticipated a further slowdown in diesel and gasoline sales going forward.
In the coming months, retail fuel demand is likely to be further impacted by an increase in carpooling, increased use of public transportation, a change in consumer behaviour (moving from passenger cars to two-wheelers), high inflation, and a general slowdown in economic activity.
“We expect RFO sales to remain intact due to a likely decline in RLNG & imported coal-based power generation.”
The government announced a late-night price increase for petroleum products on Thursday, raising the ex-depot price of gasoline to Rs248.74 per liter (after an increase of Rs14.85) and diesel to Rs276.54 (after a hike of Rs13.23).
Diesel was previously priced at Rs263.31 per litre and petrol at Rs233.89.
The pricing structure included a Rs10 petroleum levy on gasoline. The cost of high-speed diesel, kerosene, and light diesel oil has also increased by Rs5 per litre.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced the government’s decision, stating that these prices would go into effect at midnight in order to make up for the Rs-230 billion loss experienced during the fiscal year that ended on June 30th, 2022.
According to him, the country’s budget deficit, which reached a historic high of Rs5 trillion, made the increase in these prices inevitable.