Inflation spirals as Ramazan nears

RAWALPINDI: With the approach of Ramazan, the prices of gram flour, wheat flour, rice, white chickpeas, pulses, fruits, and refined flour in the open market have gone up by as much as Rs1,500 per maund, while there are warnings of a second wave of price hikes in the current week.

The price of a 79-kg bag of flour and refined flour has been raised by Rs1,350, gram flour, rice, and white chickpeas by Rs1,050 per maund, and red beans by Rs950 per maund.

In the open market, the price of chicken meat is Rs680 per kg, eggs are Rs360 per dozen, mutton is Rs2,400-2,500 per kg, beef is Rs1,350-1,450 per kg, gram flour is Rs400 per kg, rice is Rs400 per kg, fine white chickpeas are Rs390 per kg, coarse white chickpeas are Rs430 per kg, fine red beans are Rs410-415 per kg, coarse red beans are Rs500 per kg, and mash lentils are Rs550 per kg.