figures and told ‘The News’ that tea prices have increased due to high demand in the winter season. He also claimed that they are facing shortage of tea nowadays, therefore, prices are increasing continuously.
Utility Stores Corporation Senior Manager (Stores) Muhammad Waheed admitted that tea prices have increased too much. He said that overall tea prices have increased by Rs261 per 950-gram pack. "The customers are continuously lodging complaints with us but we are totally helpless in this matter," he said.
He said that tea prices would further increase as multinational companies are planning to fix Rs875 rate for 950-gram tea pack.
The price of Kenyan tea, after remaining under pressure from the start this year, has climbed to $4.5 to $5 per kg now from $3.55 in June, while it was around $3 per kg in January, a tea packer, on condition of anonymity, said. The price hike in Kenya was one of the main reasons behind rise in domestic tea prices, he said, adding that there was a shortage of 50 million kilograms of tea in Kenya due to low crop.
When we talk about egg price, some two days back, eggs were being sold at the rate of Rs72 per dozen, but now the egg price soared by Rs28 and it is being sold at Rs100 per dozen in the wholesale market.
Similarly, restaurants are selling a boiled egg for Rs20 against Rs15 and a fried one for Rs25 against Rs18.
Rawalpindi Egg Wholesale Dealers Association General Secretary Amjad Abbasi said that the egg price has increased because of a wide gap between its supply and demand in the winter season. He said that egg is not a local production and all poultry farms are located in far-off areas. “We bear huge transportation charges to bring eggs to Rawalpindi and Islamabad. We cannot maintain supply of eggs in the winter season and sometimes we have to bear their shortage in the peak winter season, therefore, their price is continuously rising,” he added. In coming days, egg prices will increase further, he warned. Special Price Magistrate Malik Noor Zaman said that they were taking action against profiteers.