LAHORE: Ghee manufacturers and cooking oil importers have decided to increase prices of their products by at least Rs12 per kg, citing increasing rates of edible oil in the international market.

Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association chairman Tariqullah Sufi said price of edible oil in the world market had surged by $50 per tonne over the last couple of weeks. This increase and the rising freight charges would definitely reflect in retail prices of local ghee and cooking oil products in the country, he added.

Mr Sufi said that his association had informed the federal government in writing about the rising edible oil prices in the international market and urged it to reduce duties and taxes on the import of these products in the country just as India had done to save end-consumers from the massive rise in prices of the two commodities.

He, however, lamented that no step had so far been taken by the government in this regard as smuggled Iranian cooking oil and unchecked tax-free import for Fata/Pata areas were making local ghee units uncompetitive.

The PVMA chief hinted at shortage of ghee and cooking oil in the country, adding that the inventory of the two products was not at a satisfactory level at present as compared to the same period last year because importers had been abstaining from placing their import orders due to volatility in the global markets.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2022