Observer Report
Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced that starting next week, his government will be using “all the resources” at its disposal to bring down skyrocketing food prices in the country.
“Starting Monday, in the coming week, our government will use all resources at the disposal of the state to bring food prices down,” PM Imran Khan tweeted on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said imported wheat and sugar will be released at control rates by provinces to alleviate the inflationary pressure on the masses.
The PM said the government is already examining the reasons behind the recent hike in the prices of food items. He said the government is investigating if there is a genuine supply shortage, hoarding by mafias, smuggling or a rise in international prices.
“From next week, we will have our strategy in place and action will begin using all state organisations and resources to bring down food prices,” vowed PM Imran Khan. Shortly afterwards, Hammad Azhar tweeted a graph to make the point that food inflation was witnessing a temporary spike in South Asia.
“South Asia has witnessed a temporary food inflation spike. Govt will take all measures needed to reduce prices of essential commodities. Imported wheat and sugar will be released at control rates by provinces. All options are being examined for other commodities,” he tweeted.
Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed that weekly inflation for the combined group in the period ending on Oct 8 increased by 1.24pc on the back of an uptick in prices of essential food items.
The PBS calculates the Sensitive Price Index based on the prices of 51 essential items from 50 markets across 17 cities of the country.
Meanwhile, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said that South Asia has seen a “temporary food inflation spike”.
“Government will take all measures needed to reduce prices of essential commodities. Imported wheat and sugar will be released at control rates by provinces. All options are being examined for other commodities,” he said in a tweet.
Also on Saturday, the prime minister took notice of high prices of food items sold at rest-area tuck shops on motorways, especially M-1 and M-2.
According to a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, a number of complaints had been received about the issue on the Citizens Portal App.
