Cooking oil, sugar prices up in Kabul

KABUL (Pajhwok): The prices of cooking oil, sugar, diesel and liquefied gas surged, while petrol and Arabic gold declined in outgoing week in Kabul, market sources said on Saturday.

Zmarai Safi, head of the Food Traders’ Association, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the price of a 16-litre bottle of Malaysian cooking oil increased from 2,050afs to 2,100afs and a 49-kilogram bag of Indian sugar went up from 2,400afs to 2,450afs.

He linked the decline to increased import into Kabul markets.

Meanwhile, Safi added the wholesale the price of a 24-kg bag of Pakistani rice stayed stable at 3,500afs, a 49-kilogram sack of Kazakh flour remained unchanged at 1,450afs, , one kilogram of African black tea sold 380afs and the same quantity Indonesian green tea at 350afs.

He noted that in some cases retail prices differ slightly from wholesale prices, while in others the difference is more significant.

Hamid Sufizada, a retailer at Dahna-i-Bagh market, put the retail price of a 49-kg bag of Kazakh flour at 1,500afs, a 24-kg bag of Pakistani rice at 3,550afs and a 49-kg sack of Indian sugar at 2,500afs.

A 16-litre bottle of cooking oil accounted for 2,150afs, one kilogram of black tea for 430afs and the same quantity of green tea for 400afs, he added.

Fuel prices

A worker at the Ahmadyar pump station told Pajhwok the price of one litre of petrol went down from 61afs to 60afs, but one litre diesel surged from 59afs to 63afs.

He said the surge followed the up in global fuel prices, which also affected Kabul markets.

However, Mohammad Jan Amin, a shopkeeper in the Dahan Bagh area of Kabul, said the price of one kilogram of liquefied gas fall from 56afs to 55afs.

He attributed the increase to colder weather and rising demand for liquefied gas.

Gold prices

Mohammad Fawad, a jeweller in Timor Shahi area, said the price of one gram of Arabian gold decreased from 7,500afs to 7,470afs, but the same amount of the Russian variety sold for 5,900afs.

Gold dealers say fluctuations in local gold prices are linked to changes in international markets.

Currency rates

Haji Mohammad Hussain, owner of the Sadaqat Money Exchange Service, said one US dollar traded for 66.50afs, while 1,000 Pakistani rupees exchanged for 227afs.

During the previous week, one US dollar consumed 66.10afs and 1,000 Pakistani rupees 225afs.

hz/sa