ISLAMABAD, June 21: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has directed the provinces to check “profiteering” being experienced by a common man in the wake of new budget announced on June 15.

Official sources said the Presidential Secretariat was sending a letter to the provinces on Saturday, asking them to keep a strong vigilance against profiteering.

The provincial authorities were specially being asked to make sure that with the levy of General Sales Tax (GST) on ghee, the companies dealing with the commodity were not allowed to increase the price more than Rs3 per kilogramme.

Sources said it had been noticed that various ghee companies were charging additional Rs6 to 10 per kilogramme following the imposition of the GST on ghee.

“We have examined various brands of ghee and feel that undue profit is being charged as a result of new GST which will not be tolerated,” an official said.

There would be serious monitoring of the prices and that those who were found indulging in profiteering would be taken to task, he added.

He said there were declining trends in the prices of palm oil in the international market and the government expected that manufacturers would maintain certain equilibrium in the prices of ghee.