Strategic reserves to help check prices

KABUL): The Afghan entrepreneurs’ body on Sunday said spiraling prices of essential daily-use commodities, including food, could not be checked due to the shortage of strategic reserves in the country.

The body’s chief, Rahmuddin Haji Agha, told reporters in Kabul currently 15,000 tonnes of food items could be stocked in facilities available at home.

Agha said the available storage facilities could not help contain prices and asked the government to create own strategic reserves to check prices of basic commodities.

Marking the World Competition Day, which is celebrated every year on Dec 5 to create awareness on competition related issues and how the enforcement of a competition regime benefits consumers, Agha urged businessmen to promote fair trading and protect consumers from unjust hike in price.

In Kabul, residents complain the rate of a kilogram of liquefied gas has doubled in winter.  One kilo of gas is nowadays sold for up to 80 afghanis against the pre-winter rate of 40afs.

Meanwhile, the price of one litre of diesel and the same quantity of petrol rose from 50 afghanis to 64 afghanis.

A 49-kg sack of Pakistani flour is sold for 1,400afs against 1,200afs few days ago. Similarly, there has been a sharp increase in rates of other basic daily use items in Kabul markets.

mds/ma

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