April 17, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1428

KARACHI, April 16: After failing miserably in controlling the milk price, the city government’s plan to fix prices of other essential commodities like pulses and rice has also hit snags.

The city government has been endeavoring hard for the last one month to overwhelm the retailers and wholesalers in fixing new rates but so far it has failed in its ambitions.

Last month, the city government knocked the doors of Water Pump Market Welfare Association and had succeeded in issuing price list of 51 essential items on fortnight basis. However, the Karachi Retail Grocers Group (KRGG) and Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA) and other associations had rejected the list on the grounds that the rates were fixed on the higher side compared to prevailing low market rates.

Surprisingly, the Water Pump Association on Monday came out with an excuse for issuing price list as the negotiations between the city government and stakeholders had failed.

According to Mohammad Siddiq of the association, the price regulators had failed in fixing rates with wholesalers despite five to six meetings in the last one month. The association had issued the price list on March 10 for at least one month period. He added that retail rate can only be fixed after ascertaining the wholesale rates.

KWGA chairman Anis Majeed told Dawn on Monday that he had been guiding the government for the last few months not to indulge in wholesale price fixing of essential items as it was very hard to verify these rates which usually fluctuate two to three times a day depending on supply and demand factors.

“Karachi is not a growing area of essential goods like pulses and rice as it has to rely on the supply from the upcountry. Even pulses consumption relies on arrival of imports,” he added.

He said that only the CDGK had been pressuring the wholesalers for fixing rates while city governments of other parts of the country had not been following the suit.

“If the city government assures the stakeholders of improved supplies then prices of goods can be fixed. It has been noticed that the improved supply automatically pushes prices downwards which is now evident from declining price trend in sugar, gram pulse and wheat,” he observed.

Usually the government tries to control inflationary trend at retail or wholesale level instead of concentrating on supply side.

He said usually imported items like pulses were selling at lower rates in Karachi as compared to other parts of the country.

However, all the efforts have taken by the CDGK so far to check profiteering and provide relief to end-consumers have failed which is evident from the fact that fresh milk is being sold between Rs32-34 per litre against the official rate of Rs28 per litre.