KARACHI, Nov 24: The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has claimed that its intervention in the cotton market has stabilized lint prices.

A spokesman of the corporation here on Thursday said that the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Cotton Procurement which met in Islamabad on Tuesday with Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan in the chair had noted with satisfaction that TCP's intervention had not only arrested the declining trend in cotton prices but had also stabilized them to the benefit of growers despite heavy phutti arrivals into the ginneries.

Clarifying a news item appeared in Dawn's November 24 issue headlined "TCP fails to stabilize cotton prices", the spokesman said that all the stakeholders present in the meeting including Aptma members had acknowledged TCP's performance in stabilizing cotton prices.

He said that the committee had observed that in case the TCP had not intervened in the market, cotton prices would have gone down by Rs200-300 per maund to the disadvantage of the growers.

The KCA spot rate for Grade III cotton was Rs1,850 per maund when TCP started its intervention. The spot rate gradually rose and stabilized at Rs1,925 per maund in the last five days despite heavy phutti arrivals into the ginneries, he added.

The spokesman said that the TCP had not been contacted for the verification and checking of facts before filing the news item.