ISLAMABAD, March 4: The Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers’ Association (PVMA) has expressed doubts about the government’s decision to provide Rs6 per kilogramme subsidy in the ghee and cooking oil prices, saying that it would benefit too few consumers because of inadequate Utility Stores network.

Commenting on the prime minister’s gesture, Chairman of the Association Shaikh Amjad Rasheed said that it would not benefit the public, especially poor consumers living in rural areas where there were no Utility Stores outlets.

Criticising the government’s decision, he said that it was regrettable that the prime minister had not taken the association into confidence before making the move.

Realising the consumers’ plight, the PVMA had been urging the government, including the Central Board of Revenue, to rationalise customs duty and other taxes, making them proportionate with the increase or decrease in global prices of imported edible oils. Unfortunately, he said, PVMA’s suggestions were ignored.

Citing increase in import price of vegetable ghee and cooking oils, he said even the prime minister had acknowledged this factor, adding that edible oil imports constituted 60 per cent of the country’s needs. He said that since January, 2006, the price of imported edible oils had risen by $200 per ton and the trend was not likely to reverse in the near future.

Subsequently, the prices of vegetable ghee and cooking oils had been increasing and would continue to rise. He said that while the customs duty was fixed, federal excise duty and withholding tax automatically increased as much as the increase in import price.

Regretfully, the government remained unmindful of the consumers’ plight and instead concentrated on revenue collection, he said. He said that the remedy provided by the prime minister was a subsidy through the Utility Stories Corporation network rather than rationalisation of duties and taxes that could have benefited consumers all over the country.

The Utility Stores Corporation, he said, had reportedly introduced its own brands, which had been criticised for their poor quality.

He said that as a last resort, a PVMA delegation would meet the chairman of the Central Board of Revenue and the secretary of the ministry of production and special initiatives on Monday (today) because of the unavailability of the minister of industries, production and special initiatives to stress the point once again.

Subsequently, the PVMA would also try to hold a meeting with the prime minister.

Shaikh Amjad Rashid said that the association was keen to reduce burden particularly on the poor segments of the society, adding that it did not support the idea of providing subsidy to a selected segment of population.