Karachi has emerged as the most expensive city for consumers as it has highest price gap that exists in actual market prices of essential food items and the rates fixed by district administrations, the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) was informed on Monday.

There are three cities of Sindh, Karachi (with the highest gap of 94.81%), followed by, Larkana (49.54%) and Sukkur (38.77%), which turn out to be the most expensive cities in Pakistan. Meanwhile Hyderabad (28.34%) ranks the sixth most expensive city after Balochistan’s Khuzdar (38.58%) and Quetta (30.81%).

The NPMC meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and the details of the price gaps based on the Decision Support System for Inflation (DSSI) were discussed. The gap shows that the respective district administrations have failed in implementing the rates.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has developed the DSSI, introduced by the government. to check uncontrolled price hike and its causes.

Whereas in Punjab, the gap remains comparatively much lower with the lowest percentage recorded in Bahawalpur (9.25%) followed by Sialkot (10.35%), Lahore (10.53%), Rawalpindi (11.84%), Sargodha (12.98%) and Faisalabad (16.16%). Multan stands at 21.65% which is the highest in Punjab.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the highest gap is recorded in the city of Bannu at 26.75% while Peshawar stands at 17.09%.

According to DAWN’s report: “Last week, the ranking of districts showed an almost similar trend — with Karachi on the higher side.”

“This showed that the district administration in the city has yet to take full action in implementing the DC rates. Post-devolution, price control falls within the jurisdiction of provinces,” the report added.