ISLAMABAD: The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) expressed deep concern over the significant price differential in essential commodities including wheat, flour, and sugar in Sindh as compared to the other provinces.
While presiding over the meeting of the NPMC at the Finance Division, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin advised the provincial representative of the Sindh government to expedite the process of daily releases of wheat at the price determined by the government to ease pressure on prices.
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Secretaries, Economic Adviser Finance, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, provincial Chief Secretaries, Managing Director Utility Stores Corporation (USC), chief statistician, and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
The adviser also directed Chief Secretary Punjab to provide sugar to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in order to stabilise prices of sugar in the province. The committee also urged the government of Sindh to finalise the indicative price of sugarcane at the earliest.
The NPMC observed that ‘Sastaa Sahulat Bazars’ in Punjab were offering essential goods at subsidised prices. The finance adviser commended the efforts of the representatives of the Punjab Government and Islamabad administration in providing key items at discounted prices. He urged the respective provincial governments to make similar requisite arrangements to ensure smooth supply of essential commodities at fair prices throughout the country.
Economic Adviser Finance Division briefed the NPMC about year-on-year and month-on-month inflation indicators. He maintained that there is a slight increase in year-on-year CPI equal to 9.2 percent as compared to 8.9 percent last year. The increase in CPI is due to the rise in international prices of food commodities and crude oil.
The government made an all-out effort to absorb the bulk of the hike in international prices by providing direct food subsidies on wheat flour, sugar and pulses. The NPMC noted a significant differential in year-on-year prices of seasonal vegetables. The price of onions is Rs 47 per kg as compared to Rs 74 per kg last year. while the price of tomatoes is Rs104 per kilogram whereas it was Rs198 per kilogram last year.
However, week-on-week increase in price of seasonal vegetables including potatoes, tomatoes in Punjab due to supply side disruptions caused by the road blockages and protest sit-in by a banned organisation. The economic adviser further updated the NPMC about the stability in prices of pulses during the week under review.
Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research updated the NPMC about the sufficient availability of wheat flour across the country.
He said the stock of wheat would last longer before the arrival of the fresh crop.
