Prices of daily-use items gone up before Ramazan

KARACHI (92 News) – The prices of daily-use items have gone up ahead of Ramazan, creating problems for the poor and common man. A 15 to 20 percent increase has been witnessed in the prices of several vegetables, including tomato, garlic, onion and coriander. The prices of fruits are also skyrocketing in different cities and are beyond the reach of the common man. Tomatoes are being sold at Rs 60,Peas are being sold at Rs 120,lemon at Rs 320,garlic are being sold at Rs 280,ginger at Rs 240 per kg in different cities. In Karachi, Onions are being sold at Rs 60,tomatoes at Rs 80, lady finger at Rs 150 per kg.Apple and pomegranate have reached Rs 400 per kg whereas prices of bananas have reached Rs 140 per kg. Ramazan is supposed to be a month of charity and blessings, but in Pakistan, it becomes a time of spiraling food prices and hoarding, with many essential items becoming out of reach. In order to provide some sort of relief to people, Ramazan Bazaars are being setup during Ramazan, however, the bazaars failed at providing any reprieve from the sky-high inflation. Profiteers again found a way to jack up prices by creating artificial shortage of commodities in local markets to raise prices in Ramazan and the government’s claim of regulating prices of essential commodities seems farcical. Citizens told 92 News that the prices of vegetables and fruits are beyond the reach of common man. They said that meat was already beyond the reach of the common man and now the prices of vegetables and fruits and pulses have made them inaccessible. They complained that there was no mechanism to nab the profiteers who were selling daily-use items at high rates.