LAHORE: Tuesday’s official price list puts onions at Rs195 a kilo and farm eggs at Rs241 a dozen, even as vegetables continue to change hands above notified rates in the open market.
Meat and poultry
Lahore’s official rate list for Tuesday holds mutton at Rs1,600 per kilogram and beef at Rs800 per kilogram. In poultry, live broiler is listed at Rs338 per kilogram while broiler meat is priced at Rs490 per kilogram. Farm eggs are notified at Rs241 per dozen — the item most households in the city treat as a daily barometer of food costs.
Vegetables
Among grade-one vegetables, onions are listed at Rs195 per kilogram and capsicum at Rs270. Chinese garlic is notified at Rs275 per kilogram against Rs160 for the local variety, a spread that continues to push buyers towards desi stock. Farm cucumber is listed at Rs190 per kilogram, okra at Rs160 and local lemon at Rs185, while imported Thai ginger remains one of the most expensive items on the sheet at Rs330 per kilogram.
Fruit
The fruit list reflects the tail end of the mango season, with Anwar Ratol notified at Rs340 per kilogram. Papaya is listed at Rs300 per kilogram, peaches at Rs250, special Gacha apples at Rs250 and guava at Rs190. Bananas are priced at Rs200 per dozen.
| Item | Unit | Rate |
| Mutton | per kg | Rs1,600 |
| Beef | per kg | Rs800 |
| Broiler (live) | per kg | Rs338 |
| Broiler meat | per kg | Rs490 |
| Farm eggs | per dozen | Rs241 |
| Onion | per kg | Rs195 |
| Capsicum | per kg | Rs270 |
| Garlic (China) | per kg | Rs275 |
| Garlic (desi) | per kg | Rs160 |
| Okra | per kg | Rs160 |
| Ginger (Thailand) | per kg | Rs330 |
| Mango (Anwar Ratol) | per kg | Rs340 |
| Banana | per dozen | Rs200 |
Gold and currency
In the bullion market, 24-karat gold closed Monday at Rs465,000 per tola and Rs398,670 per 10 grams, with 22-karat quoted at Rs426,368 per tola. Silver was listed at Rs6,794 per tola. In the open currency market on Tuesday the US dollar was quoted at Rs277.60 buying and Rs278.55 selling, the euro at Rs320.50 and Rs324.25, and the Saudi riyal at Rs74.00 and Rs74.80.
For an average Lahore household the day’s numbers translate roughly like this: a kilo of onions and a kilo of okra together cost less than a dozen eggs, while a single kilo of mutton costs more than three kilos of broiler meat. Families have adjusted accordingly, with poultry and pulses absorbing most of the protein demand that beef and mutton used to carry, and with garlic buyers switching almost entirely to the cheaper local variety.
The notified sheet and the shopping bag remain two different things. Reports from across the city on Tuesday confirmed that vegetables are still being sold in the open market well above the official rates, a complaint that resurfaces in Lahore’s neighbourhood bazaars almost every week. Enforcement rests with price-control magistrates working under the district administration, who can fine or seal shops selling above the notified rate — but with thousands of retail points across the district and a rate list that changes daily, inspection can only ever cover a fraction of the market.
With the mango season ending and winter vegetables still weeks away, the next few weeks are typically the tightest stretch of the year for produce prices in Lahore’s markets — and the period when the distance between the notified rate and the counter rate tends to widen fastest.
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