Utility Stores have increased the prices of ghee and oil a few days before the start of the holy month of Ramzan, said a directive issued in this regard on Friday.
Utility Stores have hiked the prices of branded ghee and oil, the notification directed, with the changed rates coming into effect immediately.
The price of cooking oil has been hiked from Rs6 to 9 per litre, while ghee rates have been increased up by Rs7 per kg, the notification added.
It is applicable to note the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, in a recent report, said inflation in the country reached a 7-month high, and in March, it increased to 9.05%.
Last month, sources told Prime Minister Imran Khan had banned concerned authorities from increasing ghee prices in Utility Stores in the whole country.
Following the prime minister’s disapproval of the price increases, according to sources, the finance minister also supported the prime minister’s decision.
“Ghee is people’s basic necessity; its price should not be increased,” the finance minister had said.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had earlier allowed a hike of Rs30 in the price, but after PM Imran Khan’s orders, the commodity will set to be sold at Rs170 instead of Rs200 per kg at Utility Stores.
Separately, a Ramzan package of cost Rs7.6 billion was approved by the ECC following a meeting which was headed by the previous finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh
