KARACHI, July 21: Fruit prices burnt holes in pockets on the first day of Ramazan as consumers purchased these rich sources of energy as per the desired rates demanded by the traders in the absence of any official price list.

Flour millers also gave a shock to consumers by raising the price of a 10kg flour bag to Rs320 from Rs305 while a 50kg flour bag now costs Rs1,580 as compared to its earlier price of Rs1,500. A miller linked the price hike to the rise in the 100kg wheat bag price to Rs2,775 and 2,800 from last week’s Rs2,650. Earlier this month, a bag of wheat was available at Rs2,600.

There was also no relief in fresh milk prices as retailers, already selling milk at Rs75 per litre, maintained the rate.

In fruits, no traders were seen carrying the official price list for fruits as a majority of them said the government had not issued the price list on Saturday.

However, consumers said they had not seen any government officials patrolling the markets to check overpricing. The profiting of fruit vendors can be gauged from Friday’s official price list.

Most of the consumers were stunned by the price of locally-produced banana at Rs120-150 per dozen. In the official price list issued on Friday, the wholesale rate of banana was quoted at Rs60 per dozen followed by Rs66 per dozen for market rate.

At Burnes Road traders sought Rs320 per kg for Sundarkhani grapes while in areas such as North Nazimabad and F. B Area, it is being sold at Rs240 per dozen. As per Friday’s official rate, the high quality Sundarkhani price was Rs150 per kg while its market price was fixed at Rs156.

Chanunsa mangoes are being sold between Rs60-80 per kg while their official wholesale rate on Friday was Rs55 per kg and Rs61 in the market.

Apricots sell at Rs240 per kg at Burnes Road while they are tagged at Rs120-150 per kg in other areas, depending on the quality.

They were fixed at Rs95 per kg at wholesale and Rs101 at retail market on Friday.

Peaches are available at Rs120-160 per kg in various areas but their wholesale rate on Friday was Rs105 while its market rate was fixed at Rs111 per kg.

Melons sells at Rs50-60 per kg while their wholesale and market rates were fixed at Rs30 and Rs36 per kg, respectively, on Friday.

Small-sized apple is available at Rs100 per kg while some traders were asking for Rs120 per kg. However, its official wholesale rate on Friday was Rs85 per kg and its market rate was Rs91 per kg.

Traders were demanding Rs80 per kg for guavas of very low quality while on Friday the government had issued its official and market rate at Rs30 and Rs34 per kg, respectively.

Garma is also available at Rs50-60 per kg but its official wholesale and market rate was fixed at Rs37 and Rs41 per kg on Friday.

Water melon is being sold at Rs30 per dozen as against its wholesale rate of Rs18 and market rate of Rs21 fixed on Friday.