When compared to the final week of December 2022, the prices of wheat grain, wheat flour, cooking oil, rice, legumes, and sugar barely changed during the first week of January, a price bulletin states.
With the exception of cooking oil, which is still 4% less expensive than the 2-year average, these costs are nevertheless much higher than they were two years ago.
Casual workers who are unskilled had a 1.6% decrease in their purchasing power. and livestock breeders saw an increase of 0.3% from the previous week. However, compared to the 2-year average, the Terms of Trade for one-year female sheep and unskilled casual labor to wheat remain notably high (starting from emergence of pandemic in Afghanistan).
DAP and urea prices decreased by about 2% from the previous week. However, compared to the 2-year average, DAP and urea prices continue to be much higher. It is believed that this, together with other variables, would have already had a severe influence on winter planting given the low economic and food security conditions.
While the national average price of basic food goods has essentially remained steady from the previous week, price hikes were observed in several provinces as a result of the devaluation of local currency. Due to a decline in supply, wheat, wheat flour, and sugar prices climbed by 19, 5, and 10 percent, respectively, in the province of Parwan. Additionally, due to higher demand during the winter and an increased exchange rate, the cost of cooking oil and pulses jumped by 10% and 5%, respectively, in Kabul. However, as a result of increased supply, Kabul’s prices for wheat and wheat flour fell by 4 and 2 percent, respectively.
Since the first week of November, when it was 1.5 kg, to the fourth week of December, when it was 1.8 kg, the national average for how much wheat can be produced in a day of unskilled casual labor has steadily increased. This week, however, it slightly decreased by 3% because the average wage for labor has decreased.
Due to a fall in labor wages, nominal casual labor TOT declined by 1.6 percent from the previous week and remained 11 percent below the two-year average.
