The prices of pulses have been slashed in the city by rupees ranging from 20 to 25 per kg following the release of as many as 2,000 containers of pulses stuck at Karachi port, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.

The availability of pulses has significantly improved, according to Abdul Rauf Ibrahim, chairman of the Wholesale Grocers Association, following the clearance of further 1,000 containers in 48 hours.

According to Abdul Rauf Ibrahim, after the release of another thousand containers in 48 hours, the supply of pulses has improved considerably. The release of more containers will further stabilise pulse prices.

The supply of pulses and other commodities in the market has been increased after the release of containers that were stuck at Karachi port.

In the wholesale market, the cost of pulses including white urad dal, red lentil, green gram, white gram, and black gram has decreased by rupees ranging from 10 to 30 per kg.

However, the prices of pulses and gram remained unchanged in the retail market.

Abdul Rauf criticised the civic government for the crisis and claimed that despite lower pulse prices, people were still buying pricey items because of the civic authority’s inefficiency and negligence.

He lauded the efforts of federal government and the State Bank, saying they continued to cooperate, and that the prices of items will continue to drop during Ramazan.

He noted that there are 125,000 metric tons of containers of various pulses are still stuck at Karachi port.

It is to note that Faisal Sabzwari, the federal minister of ports and shipping, had already declared to waive port charges. In addition, he had also announced the reduction of demurrage and detention.

The cost of pulses will drop even further if port fees, detention fees, and demurrages are decreased.