Commerce Reporter Islamabad
The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC), Tuesday, observed that the prices of commodities of daily use were higher in the Federal Capital.
Therefore, NPMC issued directions to the Capital Administration to control the prices of essential items in the Federal Capital and present a detailed report on the measures taken in the next week’s meeting.
NPMC met here with Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin in the chair and was briefed that SPI decreased by 0.63% on 27th May 2021.
The prices of 10 items declined and 29 items remained stable during the week under review.
The Finance Secretary also briefed that computing on Month on Month basis, there was only 0.1% increase in CPI inflation in May 2021.
The average (July-May) CPI inflation remained 8.8% whereas it was 10.9% last year during the same period, he added.
The Finance Minister appreciated the efforts of the Provincial governments and Federal Ministries/Organizations for making an effort towards controlling inflation to provide relief to the masses by easing out inflationary pressure.
During the meeting, the progress on the earlier decisions of the NPMC forum was also reviewed.
It was emphasized that the Ministry of National Food Security & Research will assume the primary role in raising the production of essential imported food items including edible oil and pulses.
The Ministry of National Food Security & Research also reaffirmed its resolve to build reserves of essential food items in partnership with the Provinces.
Ministry of Industries and Production briefed the NPMC that there is considerable progress on the issue of determining the ex-mill price of sugar in consultation with the Provincial Governments and the Ministry will come up with the final position on the issue shortly.
PBS gave a detailed Presentation on gap analysis of the prices of essential food items in different markets across the country. NPMC observed that the prices are higher in the Federal Capital.
The chair issued directions to the Capital Administration to control the prices of essential items in the Federal Capital and present a detailed report on the measures taken in the next week’s meeting.
CCP briefed the Chair on the strict action being taken against profiteers in the poultry market.
