MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The first-ever cereals market in Afghanistan has formally opened in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital of the northern Balkh province, state-run news agency Bakhtar reported on Monday.
Speaking on the occasion, deputy provincial governor Mawlawi Noorul Huda Abu Edris said that the new market would facilitate traders to store cereals including flour, rice, and other essential foodstuffs in the market to prevent hoarding, and check the price hike of basic commodities.
Welcoming the step, local trader Mustafa Mohmand was cited by the Bakhtar report as saying that the cereals market could help check the price hike and condition of hoarding in the bazaar.
Traditionally, flour and other basic foodstuffs are sold at small shops in Afghanistan and this is the first time that a big grain market has been established in the war-ravaged country. ■