An Empirical Analysis of the Prices of Selected Food Items Across Three Political administrations in Pakistan

Abstract

This study compares the prices of selected food items across three political administrations in Pakistan. We have taken monthly data from July 2008 to October 2021 of the prices of selected food items from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Finance (Pakistan)’s Pakistan Economic Survey, and Index Mundi. Thirteen food items were selected: Wheat, Basmati Rice, Basmati Super Rice, Basmati Broken Rice, Sindh/Punjab Rice, Tinned Vegetable Ghee, Loose Vegetable Ghee, Whole Masoor Pulse, Washed Masoor Pulse, Washed Mong Pulse, Washed Mash Pulse, Gram Pulse and Refined Sugar. We theorize that an increase in prices will be independent of changes in political administration, as prices are determined purely based on economic factors in the market. We provide graphical and regression analysis, with our study pointing to a consecutive rise in the absolute price of selected food items across all three administrations. Increasing real prices of selected food items are specific to each administration.