Inflation persists in Lahore despite petrol price cuts
Despite a recent reduction in petroleum product prices, the cost of daily-use food items continues to rise in the city, leaving residents struggling to make ends meet. Flour, cooking oil, pulses, sugar, vegetables, fruits and other basic commodities are increasingly out of reach for the common man, traders and market sources said.
Residents say inflation has severely disrupted household budgets, with salaried individuals bearing the brunt of the financial strain. They are demanding that the government not limit its efforts to reducing fuel prices but ensure that the benefit reaches ordinary consumers through effective control over essential commodity prices.
Mrs Saud, a housewife in Lahore, expressed frustration over the rising costs. "Prices have gone up six or seven hundred times. Those in power are only filling their own pockets. The poor man has been reduced to struggling for a single roti," she said. She pointed to the soaring price of potatoes, now selling at Rs 80 to Rs 100 per kilo, and flour at Rs 150 per kilo. "Nothing has become cheaper. Whose weakness is this? It is the weakness of the state. Prices have gone down all over the world. Petrol has become cheaper all over the world, but not here. This is the state's weakness – the worst state," she added.
Mohammad Raus, a school teacher in Lahore, said he sees no decline in prices. "The reduction is not visible because once prices go up, they rarely come back down," he said. He explained that when petrol prices increased, essential items rose sharply in response, but now despite petrol coming back to its previous level, prices have not come down. "The rate of inflation is only going higher," he said.
In recent weeks, reports have emerged of increases in the prices of various essential commodities, while calls for strict action against profiteering and enforcement of official price lists are growing louder. Residents are urging authorities to take meaningful steps to provide relief to the common man.