Bread price drops to previous rate of 10afs in Kabul

KABUL (Pajhwok): Following the appreciation of the Afghan currency against US dollar, food and liquefied gas rates as well as car fuel prices have fallen and Kabul Municipality has reduced the price of a 140-gram bread from 15 afghanis to 10 afghanis.

According to Haji Hussein Sadaqat, a worker of Sadaghat Money Exchange Service in the Sara-i-Shahzada Market, one US dollar is accounted for 101 afghanis compared to 105 afghanis on Wednesday.

Until Monday evening, one US dollar was exchanged for 130 afghanis at Sara-i-Shahzada Money Exchange Market in Kabul, prompting citizens to complain due to increased prices.

Chamber of Craftsmen and Kabul Municipality on last Tuesday in a statement stated that they had temporarily set the price of a 200-gram bread at 15 afghanis and a 270-gram bread at 20 afghanis.

Pajhwok Afghan News on December 11 published a report about different bread weights in different bakeries in Kabul but all of them sold at same prices. Kabul people during interviews with Pajhwok complained about reduced bread weights.

However, the Kabul Municipality today announced that the price of bread has reduced following appreciation of the afghani against US dollar and the fall of prices of all raw materials.

Kabul Municipality spokesman NematullahBarakzai told Pajhwok Afghan News that the price of a single loaf bread had dropped from 15 to 10 afghanis and the price of a double loaf of bread from 30 to 20 afghanis.

“The contact numbers of the municipality are written in the public announcement, and if any baker violates the prices, people should inform us, and mobile teams will take action,” he said.

Meanwhile, NoorulhaqOmari, head of the Chamber of Craftsmen, said that during a meeting with the Kabul Municipality on Wednesday, they decided to reduce the price of bread again to its previous rate.

He said that the price of a 140-gram bread was fixed at 10 afghanis and the price of a 280-gram loaf of bread at 20 afghanis.

He added that the decision to increase the price of bread was a temporary decision due to unprecedented depreciation of the afghani against US dollar and many bakers had decided to close their bakeries.

“The meeting decided that permanent rates of bread would be set once the domestic currency stabilizes,” he said.

The price of raw materials also dropped.

Zamari Safi, head of Food Traders Union in Kabul, says that today, Thursday, the price of a 50-kilogram bag of flour dropped from 2,800 to 2,500 afghanis, the price of 24.5 kilograms of Pakistani rice from 3,000 to 2,500 afghanis, 49 kilograms of Pakistani sugar from 4,200 to 3,500 afghani, a tin of 16 liters of ghee from 3,500 to 2,900 afghanis.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Javid, a gas seller in Kabul, said that the price of a kilogram of the commodity dropped from 120 to 88 afghanis today.

mds/ma