Manufacturers of ghee and importers of cooking oil have recently decided to raise their prices by at least Rs12 per kg, citing rising edible oil prices in the world market.
Tariqullah Sufi, head of the Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association, said that the price of edible oil in the international market has risen by $50 per tonne in the recent few weeks.
He added that this increase, as well as growing freight charges, will surely reflect in retail prices of domestic ghee and cooking oil products in the country.
Further, Mr Sufi stated that his organization had written to the federal government about rising edible oil prices in the international market, urging it to lower duties and taxes on these products imported into the country, similar to what India had done to protect end-consumers from the commodities’ massive price increases.
In addition, he lamented the fact that the government had taken no action in this regard, claiming that smuggled Iranian cooking oil and unregulated tax-free imports for Fata/Pata districts were making local ghee units uncompetitive.
