ADVISER to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Monday asked the relevant ministries and the provincial governments to take drastic measures to curb inflation and to undertake concerted efforts in that regard. In a related development, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar Monday said Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government were striving to control inflation in the country by making earnest efforts.
The Government is, no doubt, fully active on the issue as far as statements and expression of resolve is concerned but unfortunately there is no visible relief for the masses as yet. As recently as Saturday, the Prime Minister expressed his resolve to arrest the rapid increase in the prices of essential commodities as well as to bring them down, and on Sunday had asked the Tiger Force to regularly check the prices in their respective areas, and upload on the Tiger Force Portal. However, meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC), as before, did not come up with any specific proposal or action plan to realize this objective, which is reflective of the lack of proper comprehension of the issue. This is evident from media reports that the participants of the meeting attributed the upward trend in prices to supply and demand and higher profit margin between wholesalers and retailers. The fallacy of this assumption is confirmed by the unbridled prices of wheat flour and sugar, which are going up despite availability of sufficient stocks. Otherwise too, the issue is there for the last one year and the question arises why relevant ministries and platforms are unable to assess the situation with regard to availability of food items on a timely basis to take remedial measures. It is also pertinent to ask who will take administrative measures if there is unjust profit margin between wholesaler and retailer. The Government is repeating its determination to bring down prices but in the face of continued rise of prices of almost all items and services, people now believe it would be huge success of the authorities concerned if they could only arrest the upward trend (leaving aside the prospects of bringing prices down).
