Govt should bring down food prices like dollar rate: People

PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): Residents of northern Baghlan province say the prices of food items go up with the increase in dollar’s value, but the prices remain unchanged when the greenback depreciates.

A month ago, one US dollar consumed 77-78 afghanis, but now its value has dropped to 67 afghanis.​

Bashir Khan, a resident of the provincial capital Pul-i-Khumri, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “When the price of dollar increases, the prices of food items also increase, but food prices see no changes when the dollar dips”.

He said: “A month ago when dollar was equal to 77afs, the price of one kilo of sugar was 75afs and now that one dollar is equal to 70afs, but the price of sugar remains the same”.

Gul Alam, another resident, told Pajhwok Afghan News one month before dollar was stronger and then it lost value against the afghani, but the rate of one bag of Kazakh flour price did not change from 1600afs.

Rafiullah, a shopkeeper, said shopkeepers had no role in increasing or decreasing the prices of food items, it rested with importers.

He said: “We cannot change prices, if we purchase something at a high rate, we have to sell it at a high rate. Businessmen should sell things to shopkeepers at reasonable prices”.

Financial and Administrative Affairs head at the Pul-i-Khumri municipality, Sher Mohammad Ahmadzai, told Pajhwok that the municipality had given a price list of goods to shopkeepers.

He said: “National traders buy goods in neighboring countries in dollars, and here in Afghanistan, the price of dollar fluctuates. Traders need to be careful in food prices in order to avoid losses. This, in turn, causes commodity prices not to fall immediately when the value of dollar falls”.

hz/ma