RICE PRICING IN PAKISTAN.

A rare look at Pakistani price dynamics for rice emerges from a January 12, 2005 Reuters (Karachi) report. The report came just ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid ul-Azha, this year the third week in January. Eid ul-Asha is celebrated at the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in which about 2-million Muslims from all parts of the world participate making it the world's largest religious gathering. In English, the holiday means "festival of the sacrifice".

And in Pakistan animals are sacrificed as part of the observance.

The impact on rice prices comes from the fact that sacrificial animals need to be transported to festival locations. Truckers who normally haul rice can make more money during the holiday season hauling animals. In the week before the festival, according to Reuters, fees paid to the truckers increased nearly 53 percent.

Because transport resources are diverted to hauling animals, the domestic price for rice increased about 4 percent at the wholesale level. Reuters said that prices would likely rise further after the holiday, but the rise would be cushioned by export demand.