-Galla S Kiran Kumar,Bureau Chief Telagana (Andhra Pradesh)
The price of cooking oil is making Pakistanis who are struggling with financial problems even more scared. Without imports, oil and ghee stocks are melting fast. With this, there is a possibility that their prices will go down in the coming days.
Internet Desk: The situation of cousin Pakistan (Pakistan), which is stuck in financial crisis, is getting worse and worse. The prices of chicken and wheat flour have already skyrocketed. Due to lack of imports, supplies of cooking oil and ghee have fallen. When the month of Ramzan is about to start in a few months, there are concerns that if the supply is not increased, the prices of these may increase further.
90% of the cooking oil consumed by Pakistanis is imported. But due to lack of funds, it has become difficult to import cooking oil. The commercial banks of the country have informed the importers that cooking oil (Edible Oil) is being removed from the list of ‘essential goods’. Although there are 3,58,000 tonnes of cooking oil in the customs warehouses, the banks have not cleared the letter of credits and retiring documents to bring it to the market. Due to this, surcharge and other fees on import reserves are increasing. On the other hand, the value of Pakistani rupee is depreciating against the dollar exchange rate day by day. Due to this, imports are becoming more burdensome.
The prices of cooking oil and ghee are going up if the supply is not enough to meet the demand. Already the prices of these have increased by Rs.26 per litre. Cooking oil manufacturers and suppliers are expressing concern that if the banks do not issue letters of credits, their prices may increase by another Rs.15-20 per liter in the coming days. The current stock is only enough for another three to four weeks. It is said that if the imports are not cleared in the meantime, the price hike is not likely to go down. The month of Ramzan will start from the third week of March. At that time there is a 20-25 percent high demand for oil and ghee. The suppliers want the government to resolve the issue immediately.
Pakistan, which has been facing economic problems for a long time, was further damaged by last year’s floods. A third of the country was submerged in heavy floods. Due to this, the exports decreased and the situation became more dependent on imports from other countries. Foreign exchange reserves fell due to decline in exports. At present, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves (5.5 billion dollars) are only sufficient for 3 months of imports. In this order, the country has to take key decisions to reduce costs. Restrictions have been imposed on the use of electricity across Pakistan to save energy. Half of the country’s streetlights have been switched off. It is pathetic that the situation has deteriorated to the point where they are even selling their old embassies in America..!
