In a tweet on Saturday, Minister Farrukh Habib said the prices of tomato has decreased by 15% in only a week.
Moreover, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib has said:
“The prices of essential commodities have reduced due to Effective implementation of the Essential Commodity Pricing Guidelines.”
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib has also said:
According to the statistics department, prices of 14 essential commodities including tomato prices, sugar, eggs, onions, lentils and LPG have seen a declining trend as compared to the last year.
Furthermore, According to the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib:
“Compared to the same period last year, prices of red chilli powder decreased by 31.44%, groundnut by 27.75%, sugar by 4.78%, chicken by 4.51%, onion by 4.16% and prices of potato witness a record decline.”
Comparison with Global Commodity Prices
Prices for crude oil, metals, grains and other internationally traded commodities are climbing at the fastest rate since 1995, raising fears of political instability in countries highly dependent on imports as seen in Turkey.
The Refinitiv CoreCommodity CRB Index increased 46% at the end of January 2022. It is a composite measure of commodity prices.
Commodity prices are on the rise, especially crude oil and other fuels. Among 22 major commodities, 9 grew over 50%. Aluminium grew 53%.
Natural gas prices increased due to tension between Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, disruptions to supply chains and labor shortages have grew pressure on supply and demand.
The commodity squeeze has triggered a series of chain reactions in the market. Aluminum smelters are down in output as production costs rise because they use huge amounts of electricity. It created shortages of the metal.
Soaring natural gas prices increased the price of ammonia, a major component of fertilizer, which in turn is pushing up grain prices.
High commodity prices are weighing on the global economic recovery. IMF estimates global economic growth will decrease 0.5% if energy prices stay at current levels.
According to Mizuho Research and Technologies:
Resource-poor countries are especially challenged by the surge. The cost of Japan’s raw material imports in FY22 is estimated to increase by about 10 trillion yen ($86.7 billion).
According to the International Energy Agency:
“Of the world’s 143 nations and self-governing regions, 47 relied on imports for more than half their energy needs in 2019.”
The commodity surge is also making food more expensive. In Thailand, pork prices climbed around 50% in the three months through January. The price of pork, the most consumed meat in the nation, was pushed up by higher prices for soybean and corn, both used as animal feed.
