Pakistan economic crisis: Milk prices jump to PKR 210, chicken costs up to PKR 780 

As Pakistan struggles with a severe economic crisis, its utility bills have skyrocketed. To be specific, the prices of cooking and other critical necessities have risen to unanticipated heights in recent days. It has already sought a deal with the IMF.

The skyrocketing prices come amid a deadlock in negotiations between the IMF and Pakistan, which is a setback for Shehbaz Sharif's administration as the nation continues to recover from record-breaking floods that claimed 1,739 lives and devastated 2 million homes last year.

According to a report by Dawn, a litre of unpacked milk in Pakistan is now priced at PKR 210, up from PKR 190 previously. One kg of chicken meat currently costs PKR 700-780, up from PKR 620-650 per kg last week.

The price of live broiler chicken climbed by PKR 30-40 per kg, with consumers now paying PKR 480-500 per kg.

Food prices in Karachi have been steadily rising. According to the report, chicken was sold for PKR 390-440 per kg till last week, and it was sold for PKR 380-420 per kg in the last week of January.

When it comes to boneless meat in Pakistan, the price has reached an all-time high, with a kilogramme costing PKR 1,000-1,100, a PKR 150-200 hike from a week earlier.

Meanwhile, the price of boneless poultry has overtaken that of boneless veal, which is now sold for PKR 900-1,000 per kg. Meat with bones costs PKR 800-850 per kg.

The report quoted several wholesalers and dairy farmers which attributed milk suppliers and dealers for the hike in prices of the product.

According to them, it was challenging for retailers to sell milk at a controlled rate after purchasing it at higher costs because they were not receiving it at informed wholesale pricing.

The report quoted Waheed Gaddi, media coordinator for the Karachi Milk Retailers Association as saying that dairy producers hiked the price of milk on February 11 to PKR 183 per litre from their official rate of PKR 163 per litre that was determined on December 16, 2022.

Waheed further added that milk dealers in Karachi had two choices: buy milk at a higher price or stop buying and selling milk.

In case of poultry, Sindh Poultry Wholesalers Association general secretary Kamal Akhtar Siddiqui accused shops of charging customers at their discretion.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves have fallen to their lowest level since 1998, at around USD 3 billion, which is insufficient to cover a month's worth of imports, and the rupee has reached a new low. In addition, inflation is at an all-time high.

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