Consumers paying higher prices as food exports surge

Exports of raw food items continued to increase in the current fiscal year, with a 42.39 per cent gain in the first two months compared to the same period of the previous year. The value of raw food exports reached $1.01 billion in July-August from $710.65 million over the corresponding months of last year, according to data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In FY24, the raw food exports touched $8bn, up from $5.8bn over the preceding year. As a result, consumers nationwide are paying higher prices for food items because of supply and demand gaps. Raw food exports have climbed for the past 13 consecutive months despite the highest food inflation in history.