Sugar, Flour, and Tomatoes Out of Reach as Inflation Bites Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

PESHAWAR: Soaring food prices have hit households across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), with the cost of essential commodities like sugar, flour, tomatoes, and fruits spiraling beyond affordability amid worsening inflation and border trade disruptions.

Highlights

• Sugar price surges by Rs25 per kg in two days, now at Rs200 per kg.
• Tomatoes hit record Rs450 per kg amid Afghan border closure.
• Flour, fruits, and semolina prices also soar across K-P markets.

In Peshawar and surrounding districts, prices of daily essentials have reached record highs, tightening pressure on already strained family budgets. Sugar, once retailing around Rs175 per kilogram, has jumped by Rs25 in just two days, now selling between Rs200 and Rs205 per kg, while wholesale rates hover around Rs184–Rs200.

Traders report the price of a sugar sack rising by Rs250 with little intervention from authorities.

At the same time, tomatoes have overtaken chicken in price, retailing at Rs450 per kg compared to Rs320 for poultry. Vendors blame the closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which halted tomato imports, forcing reliance on costlier Iranian supplies. Despite official rates of Rs350–Rs380, most retailers continue to sell at inflated prices.

The flour market has also seen sharp volatility. A 20-kg bag now costs up to Rs2,700, while an 80-kg sack sells between Rs12,500 and Rs13,000. Officials cite reduced wheat movement from Punjab as the primary cause, though partial supply restoration has slightly eased prices.

Meanwhile, grapes—once a staple fruit in local bazaars—are now selling for Rs600 per kg, as border restrictions choke the import of Afghan and Iranian fruit varieties. Similar hikes have been recorded in semolina (sooji) and refined flour (maida), both retailing around Rs200 per kg.

Traders warn that if cross-border trade and supply chains remain disrupted, food inflation could worsen further, deepening the province’s cost-of-living crisis.

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