Witnesses say as river levels rose, spilling over levees and swallowing up townships, farmers watched helplessly as the waters consumed not only their fields, but their stockpiles of grain, the one thing that can stand between them and financial ruin.
By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Weekly inflation jumped to a record 45.5 percent year-on-year as deadly floods have devastated a wide swath of farmlands, rupturing food supply lines across the country.
The SPI inflation was up 1.31 percent during the seven-day period ended September 1, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed on Friday.
The floods, triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rain, have scoured the Indus river basin, killing more than 1,100 people, forcing millions from their homes and disrupting the lives of about 33 million people, or over 15 percent of the population.
With more flooding expected, crops damages are expected to climb much higher.
Witnesses say as river levels rose, spilling over levees and swallowing up townships, farmers watched helplessly as the waters consumed not only their fields, but their stockpiles of grain, the one thing that can stand between them and financial ruin.
The pain does not end there. As the waters began to recede in some parts of Sindh and Balochistan, the damage to the rural roads, bridges and rail lines was just beginning to emerge. This infrastructure is critical for the agricultural sector to move products from farms to market.
Most increase is observed in the prices of food items. Prices of onions gained 42.17 percent, tomatoes 13.25 percent, pulse moong 7.94 percent, potatoes 6.97 percent, eggs 3.84 percent, chicken 3.25 percent, pulse gram 2.89 percent, wheat flour 1.49 percent, pulse mash 1.26 percent, bread 1.22 percent.
Energy group also witnessed significant increase in prices with LPG up 4.45 percent, diesel 1.19 percent, and petrol 0.88 percent.
“Contrary to expectations, tomato prices have increase by mere 13 percent despite flood-related supply constraints. In Karachi, our market survey suggests that supply has improved due to availability of imported tomatoes,” analyst Fahad Rauf at Ismail Iqbal Securities said
“We expect inflationary pressures to continue due to impact of floods. However, immediate shock might be reduced if perishable food supply is managed through imports.”
SPI comprises of 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country. During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 31 (60.79 percent) items increased, 3 (05.88 percent) items decreased and 17 (33.33 percent) items remained stable.
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