High chicken prices keep buyers at bay

Rawalpindi:Right under the nose of federal and provincial governments, poultry tycoons have increased chicken prices by over 500 per cent and are continuously increasing its rates but no action has been taken against them. The skyrocketing rates of chicken have created huge volatility in the market forcing many families to boycott purchasing the commodity.

One-kilogram chicken meat is being sold at Rs870 in open market. The commodity was easily available at Rs150 or Rs200 per kilogram but now chicken meat is being sold at the price of gold for over six months. Interestingly, chicken sellers have also stopped to show chicken price lists in their shops. It means that chicken sellers were selling chicken as per their own wishes.

On the other hand, Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) Chairman, Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf in a statement said the increase in the current prices of poultry is due to demand and supply. He said that the increase in poultry business inputs and cost of doing business has been witnessed across the country due to which the market was in crisis.

He said many people in the business were affected by the current crisis, especially small businesses as many have winded up their setups, adding the poultry business in the four provinces was suffering from the current economic crisis.

In view of exorbitant prices, the social media activists also started ‘Chicken Boycott Campaign’ and appealed to public to avoid chicken for two weeks. It has been widely circulated that chicken prices will come down if public stops eating chicken. During the last six to eight months, over 500 per cent increase has been witnessed in the price of chicken, while as same as 33 per cent increase has also been witnessed in the price of poultry eggs during the same period. 1-kilogram chicken meat is being sold at Rs870 and even during Eid days, the commodity was sold at Rs1200 per kilogram. Similarly, 1 dozen eggs are being sold at Rs280 to Rs300.