THE Federal Cabinet, on Tuesday, approved a relief package in order to ‘stabilize prices and provide relief to the general public’. Giving details of the proceedings of the meeting, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said Utility Stores Corporation (USC) would be provided a monthly subsidy of Rs. 2 billion for the next five years to ensure availability of essential items to the people on subsidized rates, ration cards would be issued to the deserving people before Ramzan enabling them to purchase essential items worth Rs 2,000 from USC besides opening of two thousand ‘Youth Stores’ in collaboration with USC.
The decisions of the Cabinet, taken at the instance of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had vowed to bring down prices of food items and provide relief to the people at all costs, would surely help mitigate woes of some segments of the society. However, going by the fact that the price-hike is affecting each and every citizen and families of the country, the approach of targeted relief is hardly expected to resolve problems of the people at large. The extension of Utility Stores package by five months might help improve financial health of the institution but benefits of the package would reach just to a negligible population that has access to its outlets. Even addition of two thousand ‘Youth Stores’ is unlikely to make any tangible difference given the complexity and magnitude of the problem of inflation and its impact on masses. It is also unfortunate that instead of reducing the prices further, the Cabinet, thought it appropriate to raise the price of sugar by Rs 2 per kilo and that of ghee by Rs 5 a kilogram. The steps approved by the Cabinet are also transitory in nature whereas there was need to bring about a change in the policies of the Government that are responsible for unprecedented price-hike. The Cabinet has done well by overruling decision of the ECC not to import sugar, which apparently favoured the sugar mafia. Speedy import without taxes and duties has the potential to force the mafia to curtail its huge profit margins and sell the commodity at reasonable rates. We would also point out that instead of so-called targeted subsidies; the Government should pass on actual benefit of reduced prices of oil in the international market to the people, lower gas and electricity tariff and provide food items exemption from sales tax and customs duties.
