Food Out Of Reach! In Crisis Hit Pakistan Vegetable Prices Shoot Up By 500%
Prices of onion, tomatoes and potatoes have skyrocketed in Pakistan. Onions are being sold at Rs 300 per kg vs Rs 50 before the floods, whereas the potatoes have climbed four times to Rs 100 per kg and tomatoes have gained 300% to reach Rs 400 per kg.
Skyrocketing prices of tomatoes, potatoes and onions are putting food out of reach in the flood hit country of Pakistan.
India's neighbour was already under economic crisis amid dwindling forex currency reserves and the fastest inflation in almost five decades. And now it faces a food shortage after torrential rains have submerged a third of the country and destroyed crops.
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As per Bloomberg report, the weekend saw 8 more districts of the nation getting added to the calamity list of 80 areas hit by floods. Indicating a 500% jump, onions were sold at Rs 300 ($1.37) a kilo vs Rs 50 before the floods, according to Ali Asghar Londer, one of the thousands living in evacuation tents in Dadu, a city near the western bank of the Indus River. Dadu has seen the biggest damage to its rice and onion production.
On the other hand, the cost of potatoes has climbed four times to Rs 100 a kilo, tomatoes have gained 300% to Rs 400 a kilo, while ghee, a fat used for cooking, soared 400%, Londer said last week. Elsewhere, supplies of dairy and meat were also hit as warehouses got flooded, as per the report.
Such a massive surge in food prices is expected to add stress to an already fragile and politically divided economy of Pakistan, which had just recently begun to regain some funding strength after securing a $1.16 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout and $9 billion in pledges reportedly from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The floods, which will cost an estimated $10 billion worth of damage, have claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people and forced half a million into camps. It has also submerged large areas of farmland and flushed away crops in a country where agriculture accounts for about a fifth of the economy, Bloomberg report mentioned.
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¡°Inflation could accelerate to 30% in the coming two months and that would take the average price gains this fiscal year to 23%-24%, surpassing the central bank¡¯s estimate of 18%-20%¡±, according to Fahad Rauf, head of research at Ismail Iqbal Securities.
Vegetable prices have started to ease in Karachi as imports arrive, Rauf said. Pakistan is purchasing onions and tomatoes from Iran and Afghanistan to plug the shortage.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was ousted in April 2022 but still remains very popular, is waging a fierce campaign to press for elections, and the devastating floods is stoking public anger.
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