ISLAMABAD, June 26: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has asked the government to exempt Rs27 duty and taxes on per kg of edible and cooking oil to bring down prices of essential kitchen items.

ICCI President Nasir Khan said in a statement here on Tuesday that the price of ghee had increased during the last three months and this has badly affected the monthly budget of the common man.

He said that the government should give subsidy to cooking oil industry, and that attention should be paid towards the cultivation of palm oil trees with the cooperation of agricultural universities as import of palm oil from Malaysia costs heavily.The ICCI president urged the government to encourage farmers to cultivate sunflower and cotton-seeds to increase the production of edible oil. In this way, the import of palm oil could automatically be reduced, resulting in the saving of foreign exchange.