ISLAMABAD: The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) on Monday asked provincial governments to provide information regarding flood damages of minor and major crops to Ministry of Food Security and Research for timely response to meet any shortages.

An official statement issued after the meeting said the ministries of industries and production and commerce were directed to take prompt action and provide necessary support to facilitate import of essential food items.

The Ministry of National Food Security & Research was directed to keep an eye on the supply and demand of pulses and vegetables including tomatoes, potatoes and onion and take necessary measures such as timely import for the smooth availability of items.

NPMC urges check on profiteering

It was also noted that profit margin between wholesale and retail is huge in items like apples, bananas, gram pulse, mash pulse, masoor pulse, garlic, tomatoes, onions. The NPMC urged provincial governments and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to take corrective measures to check undue profit margin.

The NPMC appreciated the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics for sharing provincial profit margin with provinces, ICT and also directed to share the detail of provincial markets to them in order to take strict action against profiteers. The inter-provincial coordination was also directed to coordinate in this matter so that consumers of each province may get relief to pay minimum margin.

The provincial governments and ICT informed that they are regularly monitoring the prices and taking strict action against hoarding and undue profiteering. Government in consultation with all stakeholders is proactively taking measures to control the general price level of daily use items at federal, provincial and district levels.

The committee also discussed the price movements of essential items among the provinces/ICT and observed variations in price level. It was decided that all provincial governments and ICT administration will take proactive measures to control undue price hike of essential items.

The provinces were asked to take strict action against hoarding, adulteration, smuggling, undue profiteering and to ensure uninterrupted supply of daily use items to masses at lower prices. The federal government will provide all possible cooperation in this regard for stability of prices in the country. The Utility Stores Corporation was also instructed to ensure strict control on the quality of daily use items at outlets.

The meeting was informed that CPI inflation year-on-year was recorded at 8.2 per cent in August as against 10.5pc during the same month last year. The meeting also noted that the average inflation during Jul-August FY21 was also showing declining trend and recorded at 8.7pc as compared to 9.4pc same period last year.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2020