ISLAMABAD, Nov 03 (APP): The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) on Wednesday expressed deep concern over the significant price differential in the key commodities including wheat flour, sugar etc. in Sindh as compared to the other provinces.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin advised the provincial representative of the Sindh government to expedite the process of daily releases of wheat at the price determined by the government to ease out pressure on prices.
Shaukat Tarin, presided over the meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) held at the Finance Division, said a press release issued here.
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Secretaries, Economic Adviser Finance, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, Provincial Chief Secretaries, Managing Director USCs, Chief Statistician, and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
The adviser also directed the Chief Secretary Punjab to provide sugar to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in order to stabilize prices of sugar in the province.
The NPMC urged the government of Sindh to finalize the indicative price of sugarcane at the earliest.
The NPMC observed that ‘Sastaa Sahulat Bazars’ in Punjab were offering essential goods at subsidized prices.
The adviser commended the efforts of the representatives of the Punjab Government and Islamabad administration in providing key items at discounted prices through a network of ‘Sastaa Bazaar’ and urged the respective Provincial governments to make similar requisite arrangements to ensure smooth supply of essential commodities at fair prices throughout the country.
The Economic Adviser Finance Division briefed the NPMC about Year-on-year and Month-on-Month inflation indicators.
There is a slight increase in Year-on-year CPI equal to 9.2 percent as compared to 8.9 percent last year.
The increase in CPI is due to rise in international prices of food commodities and crude oil.
The government made an all-out effort to absorb the bulk of the hike in international prices by providing direct food subsidies on wheat flour, sugar and pulses.
The NPMC noted a significant differential in Year-on-year prices of seasonal vegetables.
Price of Onions is Rs 47 per kg as compared to Rs 74 per kg last year.
Similarly, price of tomatoes is Rs104 per kilo whereas it was Rs198 per kilo last year.
However, week-on-week increase in price of seasonal vegetables including potatoes, tomatoes in Punjab Province due to supply side disruptions caused by the Dharna by TLP.
The Economic Adviser further updated the NPMC about the stability in prices of pulses during the week under review.
The Secretary M/o NFS&R updated the NPMC about sufficient availability of wheat flour across the country.
The stock of wheat would last longer before the arrival of the fresh crop, he added.
