ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Shaikh on Monday constituted a committee to evolve a concerted course of action to bring down prices of sugar and edible oil.

The committee — led by Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar — will have Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research and stakeholders concerned as its members.

The decision was taken in the meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) chaired by Dr Shaikh. Prices of essential food items especially wheat, sugar and edible oil were discussed in the meeting.

On the occasion, Hammad updated the NPMC about measures being taken to further reduce the prices of sugar and edible oil, in consultation with stakeholders. On the price of edible oil, he said the issue is being consulted with the Federal Board of Revenue.

“For sugar, we are analysing the stocks, demand and supply with the provinces,” he added.

Dr Shaikh stressed the need for effective functioning of all federal and provincial authorities to monitor the demand and supply positions across the country.

The NPMC observed price variation in wheat flour in Sindh and Balochistan provinces which was reflected in the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Dr Shaikh directed the chief secretaries to regulate smooth supply of wheat throughout the provinces by increasing daily release, if needed, and submit a comprehensive report in the next NPMC meeting accordingly.

He urged the provincial secretaries to check the possibilities of hoarding and black marketing –especially of wheat and sugar – and ensure uninterrupted provision of these commodities at fair prices.

The finance ministry briefed about the decline in Consumer Price Index recorded at eight per cent in December 2020 as compared to 12.6pc in December 2019 as a positive outcome of vigilant monitoring under the NPMC on regular basis.

The NPMC noted significant decline in food inflation as urban food inflation declined by 2.1pc and rural declined by 3.4pc on Month-on-Month basis. The meeting was also informed that there was a decline in weekly Sensitive Price Index by 0.7pc. Prices of 10 essential food commodities including tomatoes, onions, potatoes and chicken reduced considerably.

Dr Shaikh noted that the prices of essential items have started showing declining trend, which is a positive outcome of vigilant monitoring under NPMC on weekly basis. He emphasised increased coordination among federal and provincial authorities to identify demand supply gaps and take immediate remedial measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of items of daily use at affordable prices.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2021