The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) says the prices of food items and fuel have decreased in the country and efforts are underway to further reduce costs so members of the public can afford to cover their basic needs.
“In the market, the prices of food items have decreased, as you can see, a bag of flour was more than 2,500 afghanis last year and has now come down to 1,850 afghanis, and the price of fuel and rice has also decreased,” said Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, a spokesman for the MoIC.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) has also said that food prices will drop further.
“We wish the committees would monitor the market as much as possible because this is very important,” said Mirwais Hajizada, a member of the private sector.
In addition, the residents of Kabul say there have been changes in the prices of flour, oil, gas and sugar, but they hope the cost of living will drop even further as people are still struggling to make ends meet.
“Thankfully, it has become a little cheaper and we hope it will be even cheaper in the future,” said a Kabul resident.
Currently, a 50 kg bag of flour costs 1,900 afghanis; 10 kg oil costs 1,050 afghanis; seven kilos of sugar costs 400 afghanis; one kilo of gas costs 58 afghanis; and one liter of petrol costs 66 afghanis.
A number of traders have also said that the cost of food and fuel in global markets has not decreased, but efforts are underway to reduce the prices of essential items in Afghanistan.
According to experts, if prices are closely monitored by government institutions, prices will not increase on the whim of traders.
