EDITORIAL: THE report that an annual plan for price stabilisation is under preparation reflects the Government’s anxiety over the existing unsatisfactory situation. Prices of consumer items, in both wholesale and retail markets, have shown an erratic trend after devaluation. The prices of atta, ghee, sugar, rice, jowar, and bajra, have, for example, registered a rise… . The Government has, however, maintained that devaluation does not just justify such price increases. Both the President and the Sind Governor have … warned of stern action against those responsible for speculative moves designed to push up prices. But … the Government knows that warnings only rarely affect the conduct of the market. ...
…[A] great deal will depend on how far the Government succeeds in preventing inflationary pressures from getting exacerbated, in restoring industrial peace, and in ensuring that the incentives to increased agricultural production remain effectively in operation. It is also vital to see that luxury items and inessential imports are shut out, so that sufficient resources are thus made available for importing the goods and industrial raw materials that we badly need.
Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2022
