ISLAMABAD: As Eidul Fitr neared, traders continued enjoying the benefits of a free market economy in their favour with prices of tomatoes increasing by around Rs10 on a daily basis to cross the Rs200 per kilogramme mark.

The high flying tomato prices were not only visible at the retail end in the twin cities but also at the controlled rates Sasta bazaars organised by the district administration of Rawalpindi and Islamabad in their respective jurisdictions and the weekly bazaars managed by the Municipal Corporation Islamabad (MCI).

A very fastest increase has been witnessed in the prices of tomatoes - a jump of manifolds in one week.

Tomatoes at the controlled rate bazaars were selling at Rs44 per kg on April 24 and almost doubled to Rs84 per kg by April 29 and made another 100pc jump to Rs160 per kg on May 1.

Similar trend witnessed for onions in controlled rates weekly bazaars

Incidentally, the price control mechanism at these bazaars managed by the government functionaries could not check the lust of sellers. Tomatoes were being sold Rs10 higher than the official rate at the Peshawar Mor Sunday bazaar and the Sasta bazaar at Shamsabad.

The high speed jump in its prices not only created confusion but also irked the consumers because compared to the Ramazan Sasta bazaars and the week bazaars, the market rates were between Rs20 and 50 higher depending on the commercial areas of the twin cities.

A similar trend was witnessed for onions too which was Rs82 per kg at the controlled rates bazaars and around Rs100 per kg in the open market.

Even the Federal Bureau Statistics (FBS) pointed that the prices of tomatoes increased by 62.18pc and onions by 50.38pc in April compared to March.

According to the FBS data, the price of tomatoes in April this year was 169.87pc higher and that of onions 77.72pc costlier than the same month last year.

On the other hand, sellers presented one simple argument that limited supplies and high demand were pushing the prices up.

“These are perishable items and cannot be stored for a longer period, while stocks of tomatoes, chillies and even onions have a higher rotting ratio in the summer months,” said Haji Rizwan Farooq, a wholesaler at the fruit and vegetable market.

He said currently tomatoes were coming from south and central Punjab and Sindh and the supply side was weak.

He said currently only 70-80 trucks were coming to the wholesale fruit and vegetable market at 1-10, whereas last year up to 120 trucks were arriving daily in the last week of Ramazan.

But the worst part is that there is no relief in sight and with the wholesale fruit and vegetable market set to close down on Sunday night for four days the retailers will be free to set the rates.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2022