Islamabad, Pakistan – When Ayesha Khan, a mom of 4, was shopping for groceries for her household this week, sugar was excessive on her purchasing listing.
A number of miles away within the corridors of energy, Pakistan’s authorities and bureaucrats have been attempting to thrash out a repair for sugar’s hovering costs. However for Khan, shopping for sugar was a necessity.
“It has been nearly 20 days since Ramadan started, and this would be the third time I’m shopping for a five-kilogramme bag of sugar for the household,” Khan, who’s in her 30s, instructed Al Jazeera whereas purchasing in an Islamabad market frequented principally by middle-class clients.
“What can I say? All of us have a candy tooth, and we love our sugary tea and rooh afza!” she added, laughing, referring to the popular rose-flavoured beverage.
Common inflation within the nation has trended downwards over the previous yr, with inflation crashing from 23.06 p.c in February 2024 to 1.5 p.c in February this yr. This was after inflation had reached a file excessive of 38 p.c in Could 2023.
Nevertheless, over the previous few months, the worth of sugar has elevated by almost 22 p.c, rising from 140 rupees per kilogramme ($0.50) in January to 171 rupees per kilogramme ($0.61) within the second week of March, in accordance with Pakistan’s Bureau of Statistics.
However within the markets of Islamabad, many shoppers stated that the rise in sugar costs was solely a pinch, not a punch, to their wallets, including that the steadiness of costs for different key commodities reminiscent of milk, wheat and rice helped them stability their budgets.
Mohammad Shehzad, 27, was shopping for jalebi – a spiral-shaped South Asian dessert produced from all-purpose flour and soaked in scorching sugar syrup.
He stated that whereas Ramadan normally introduced a slight enhance within the costs of almost each commodity, issues had been worse in earlier years.
“We do love so as to add sugar to our tea and desserts, after all, however as a result of our general expenditure is beneath management, the rise in sugar costs has not damage us an excessive amount of,” he instructed Al Jazeera whereas inserting an order for 3 kilogrammes of jalebi, bought for 650 rupees ($2.32) per kilogramme, for an iftar dinner at his home.
Ramadan, with its each day rituals of suhoor and iftar — the predawn and post-sunset meals, respectively — usually brings a barely larger consumption of assorted meals objects.
Wajid Mehmood, the supervisor of Shikarpuri Sweets, the dessert store the place Shehzad was shopping for jalebi from, stated that whereas the general enter value had elevated as a result of rising sugar costs, it had primarily affected revenue margins.
“We buy about 10 to 12 baggage per day, every weighing 50kg, for our six branches. One bag at the moment prices us 8,500 rupees ($30). Earlier than Ramadan, it value us 7,800 rupees ($27) per bag,” he stated.
Nevertheless, Mehmood stated that the store house owners had determined to not cross the elevated value on to clients throughout Ramadan.
“Perhaps the worth will probably be raised a bit of at Eid,” he stated, referring to the festive interval that follows the month of fasting.
For some, like Muhammad Zahid, a juice vendor who has run his roadside stall for the previous 32 years, pricing is dependent upon a mixture of things, together with will increase within the costs of each sugar and fruits, reminiscent of apples, bananas and oranges. Throughout Ramadan, he has no clients in the course of the day.
“With Ramadan, my sugar necessities have naturally gone down, so my each day utilization is between two to a few kilogrammes, costing me 165 rupees ($0.59) per kilogramme nowadays,” he stated whereas slicing fruits.
In contrast to the supervisor on the sweets store, Zahid stated that the worth of a glass of juice fluctuated relying on his whole enter value – he can’t afford to buffer the shopper from worth modifications.
“If you need a glass of banana juice, it should value you 150 rupees ($0.54) as a result of each sugar and bananas are costly proper now,” he stated. “However when you come after Ramadan, the worth would possibly drop to 130 rupees per glass.”
The rise in costs, he believes, is partly as a result of wholesale merchants are hoarding sugar to make income at a time once they know that the majority shoppers will purchase it for his or her iftar and suhoor meals. He stated he expects hoarding to go down after Eid.
The federal government, for its half, stated it should attempt to include sugar costs and be certain that hoarders don’t exploit the scenario.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said earlier this week that the federal government would guarantee the worth of sugar doesn’t exceed 164 rupees (0.59) per kilogramme.
The gradual enhance in sugar costs has been blamed on hoarders, who purchased massive portions of sugar earlier when costs ranged between 140 ($0.50) and 150 rupees ($0.54) per kilogramme.
Pakistan’s whole sugar manufacturing for the present monetary yr, which is able to finish in July 2025, is forecasted at 6.8 million tonnes, whereas consumption is predicted to be about 6.7 million tonnes.
Mohammad Rashid, a grocery store proprietor in Islamabad, stated his store was at the moment promoting sugar at 168 rupees (0.60) per kilogramme, a rise of 16 rupees ($0.06) in contrast with earlier than Ramadan.
Blaming an “synthetic scarcity” available in the market, Rashid stated that there had been a slight discount in sugar gross sales.
“We used to promote near 16 to 18 baggage of 50kg every per day. However with Ramadan and the inflated worth, our gross sales have dropped to roughly 12 to 14 baggage per day,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
In the meantime, Pervez Kiran, who has run his grocery retailer in Karachi for the previous three a long time, stated that regardless of the worth enhance, sugar consumption was unlikely to be considerably affected.
“It’s a non-perishable merchandise, not like milk, greens or fruits, in order that helps. Secondly, individuals right here simply love sugar, even when it kills them. Our each day gross sales vary between 80 and 100kg per day, and so they have remained the identical, whether or not we promote sugar at 150 rupees ($0.54) per kilogramme or 170 rupees ($0.61) per kilogramme,” he instructed Al Jazeera over the cellphone.
Naila Ahmer, a housewife from Karachi and a mom of 5, agreed that for her household, sugar consumption remained fixed regardless of worth fluctuations.
“Our household loves desserts, and through Ramadan, we make juices and drinks that require sugar. However our month-to-month buy stays roughly the identical, between seven to 10kg, as throughout non-Ramadan months, we regularly make desserts,” she instructed Al Jazeera.
Again in Islamabad, Khan, who hails from Charsadda within the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, explains how her household’s obsession with sugar goes up throughout Ramadan.
She stated her husband, a manufacturing unit supervisor on the outskirts of Islamabad, provides her roughly 50,000 rupees ($178) for groceries each month, however throughout Ramadan, he will increase the quantity to 70,000 rupees ($250).
“We’re at the moment constructing a small extension in our home, so quite a lot of our cash goes there. However throughout Ramadan, we’ve paused building as a result of additional bills. We are going to anticipate the month to finish earlier than resuming building, however we received’t cease shopping for sugar,” she stated.
