ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: The federal commerce minister, Humayun Akhtar, on Friday said the prevailing shortage of meat in the country was not due to export of goats.

Replying to a question raised by member of the National Assembly, Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi, the minister said there were several other reasons that caused scarcity of meat.

However, he said the government was constantly reviewing the matter to overcome the meat shortage. To another question, whether there was any proposal under consideration to impose ban on the export of goats, the minister said no such proposal was under consideration.

Meanwhile, some butchers told Dawn that prices of meat had gone up by 25 per cent in the Capital.

They said they had made an increase of Rs30 and Rs15 per kg in the prices of mutton and beef respectively. Mutton is being sold at Rs145 to 150 per kg at retail level and new price of beef is stated to be Rs85 per kg.