The government’s price control mechanism appears to have faltered amid soaring inflation, as the retail price of tomatoes in Islamabad has hit Rs380 per kilogram.
Tomatoes are now being sold at Rs380 per kg in the federal capital, followed by Rs360 in Rawalpindi, Rs350 in Faisalabad, Rs340 in Lahore, and Rs320 in both Gujranwala and Sialkot.
The surge in tomato prices comes as weekly inflation—measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)—rose by 0.56% for the combined consumption group during the week ending October 2, 2025, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The SPI was recorded at 332.17 points, up from 330.32 the previous week. On a year-on-year basis, the index has increased by 4.07%.
Based on the 2015–16 base year, the SPI tracks the prices of 51 essential items across 17 urban centres, monitoring inflation trends for different income groups.
