The Punjab government is working to control the prices of basic food products as part of an effort to stop inflation during Ramazan, an official said on Tuesday.
With Ramazan just around the corner, help efforts are being made to reduce the usual price increases in the necessary products such as vegetables, sugar, flour and dates. The measure occurs when people rushes to register in the Ramazan Nigabhan aid package, an initiative announced by the Punjab government last month to help relieve financial difficulties during the holy month.
When heading to a press conference at Lahore, special assistant to Punjab Prime Minister, Salma Butt, said that basic vegetable rates such as tomatoes, potatoes and onions would remain below RS100 with tomatoes at RS40-50 per kilogram, while The onions and potatoes would be RS80 and RS80 and RS55-60/kg, respectively.
She described it from an “important change” compared to the previous year, adding that the cost of the dates would also decrease from RS525 to RS485/kg.
Butt stressed the need to prevent the cost of dates from reaching unreasonable levels, and added that lemons were expected to have a price of RS110/kg instead of the price reaching RS400/kg in previous years.
She said that the price of pumpkin would be established in RS70-80/kg compared to RS200-250 last year, while the price of cauliflower, peas and eggplants were expected to remain below RS100.
The lentils, including Dal Chana, Dal Maash and Black Gram, have seen a decrease in the price of almost RS100 since October last year, he said, adding that the cost of Masoor and Moong only increased by a minimum margin. Butt said the price of flour would be established at RS1,680/10 kg, a marked decrease of RS2,710 previously. He added that the cost of Baisan (gram flour) had also decreased in RS75.
When addressing the increase in sugar prices, the Punjab official explained that in coordination with sugar factories, the cost of sugar would be set at RS130/kg, highlighting the Punjab government’s commitment to relieve financial tension in the people. He also added that most products can be found marginally cheaper in the bazaars of Ramazan Sahulat, established throughout Punjab.
“This is the first step we have taken and we would like to move on to our efforts to be more sustainable,” he added.
