LAHORE (Web Desk) – It’s 9:30am, December 4, 2024, with sun hiding behind fog for the fifth consecutive day. Obviously, the complete absence of sunshine has turned weather very cold in Lahore and other parts of Punjab.
At the same time, the chicken meat in Lahore is being sold for Rs548 per kg and eggs for Rs380 per dozen, making it difficult for an overwhelming majority to have a decent breakfast.
Meanwhile, mutton is available from Rs2,000 to Rs2,200 per kg and beef (boneless) at Rs1,000, as Pakistan proudly presents itself as agri-based economy.
When it comes to vegetables, the prices ae so high that these too are becoming a luxury. But don’t forget about the pulses – once considered as the poor’s food because of affordability. The pulses prices too have been skyrocketing at an unprecedented pace.
But the headline news in our media is that the food exports during the first half of 2023-24 [July-December] is that Pakistan shipped [or airlifted] agriculture and food exports worth $3.847 billion against $2.345bn in the same period last year – representing a 64 per cent increase.
One wonders whether how not only the poor but also those bracketed in the middle class should or could celebrate this development.
Read more: We export food items when people are being crushed by food inflation at home
The latest figures are continuation of trend. Previously, it was reported that the food exports grew 30.29pc during the July-Oct period of 2023-24, reaching $1.944 billion against a total of $1.492bn recorded in the corresponding months of last fiscal year.
Meanwhile, some circles are demanding more incentives to boost food exports as people have been crushed by the record-high and still rising food inflation.