Cooking oil, sugar prices rise, gold declines in Kabul — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): The prices of Malaysian cookingoil, fuel and sugar increased, while Kazakh flour, goldand liquefied gas prices declined in outgoing week in Kabul markets, market sources said on Saturday. Zmarai Safi, head of the Food Traders’ Association, said that the price of a 16-litre bottle of Malaysian cooking oil increased from 2,300afs to 2,350afs and a 49-kilogramme sack of Indian sugar from 2,600afs to 2,900afs. He linked the increase to higher demand and lower imports. But the rate of a 49-kilogramme sack of Kazakh flour went down from 1,650afs to 1,600afs. However, he said the prices of other essential food items remained unchanged, with a 24-kilogramme bag of Indian rice 2,500afs, one kilogramme of African black tea 380afs and the same quantity of Indonesian green tea 350afs. He noted that in some cases, retail prices differed slightly from wholesale prices, while in others, the difference was more significant. Hamid Sufizada, a retailer at Dahna-i-Bagh market, put the retail price of a 49-kilogramme bag of Kazakh flour at 1,650afs, a 24-kilogramme bag of Indian rice at 2,550afs and a 49-kilogramme sack of Indian sugar at 2,950afs. A 16-litre bottle of cooking oil cost 2,400afs, one kilogramme of black tea 400afs and the same quantity of green tea 430afs, he added. Hikmatullah Mohammadi, an employee at a petrol station in the…