Highlights:
O Fuel prices continue to rise: The prices of petrol and diesel have been on the rise since the start of 2021. In the current reporting period, the prices of both petrol and diesel increased in most monitored markets by about 3 percent compared to last week. Compared to July, prices of petrol and diesel increased in all monitored markets in the range of 4 to 14 percent with the biggest increase seen in Murghob market in GBAO. Compared to the start of the year 2021, the current increase is around 50 percent. The increase in fuel price is primarily attributed to currency devaluation towards the end of 2020 resulting in higher import costs.
O Compared to the previous week, the average prices of most monitored food items remained stable in the majority of markets in the current reporting period except onion which increased by 3 to 38 percent in 7 of the 9 monitored markets. The main reason for this increase given by traders was reduction in quantity of onions in the markets. It is worth noting that the current price is still in par with the average prices over the past 12 months. Prices of some key food commodities like potato, onion, vegetable and cotton oil etc were found to have increased in Murghob market due to its remoteness resulting in increasing transport cost as fuel prices continue to rise.
O Carrot price has continued to drop after reaching a recod high in June where it was 10.4 Somoni/kg and now stands at 6.8 Somoni. The average price a year ago was around 3 Somoni/kg. As reported by the traders, the price drop is due to increased availability in the markets.
O Compared to July average prices, the prices of most monitored commodities increased slightly in the current reporting period, with the biggest increase seen in onions where the increase on average was 28 percent. In Gharm markets, slight increase was seen in skill labour rate compared to July average, possibly due to ongoing post earthquake reconstruction activities.
Source: World Food Programme