Provinces instructed to stop stockpiling foodstuffs

ISLAMABAD: Expressing concerns over onion and ginger shortages in the country, the government has directed the provinces and district administration to set up special teams to monitor the storage and black marketing of basic food requirements.

A meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (MPMC), headed by Secretary Finance Naveed Kamran Baloch, expressed satisfaction over the 'general fall in prices'.

According to sources, the current price of onion is Rs 80 per Kg, while the price of ginger has risen to Rs. 400 / kg, the supply of ginger has been affected due to the spread of coronavirus in China.

It was also informed at the committee meeting that formula is in the final stages of its formation to address the price disparity in the districts.

At the meeting, representatives of the Competition Commission of Pakistan said that in consultation with the February 2015 decision of the NPMC, detailed consultations were made to control the storage, consumption and consumption of essential commodities.

The Committee was told that under the same pricing formula, wholesale rates could be set where pricing elements like form gate price, freight, lodging, packing and transportation are the same, whereas prices would vary depending on different things. Suggestions can be made with pointers.

In addition, the formula includes the proposal to exempt agricultural supermarkets, minimum support prices for the most important food items, food processing and canning, while hypermarkets exempt the implementation of price control rules.

The committee expressed surprise at the Punjab government's report, saying that the average price of sugar in the province was Rs 76 per kg, but some participants said that the price of the sugar mill in Chiniot was Rs 80 per kg, on which the committee decided on prices. Ordered to investigate the disparity in how the retail price can be reduced by the price of a mill.

In addition, the committee discussed consumer price index (CPI) trends, observing that inflation-causing food items such as fresh vegetables, pulses and wheat prices were falling on a monthly basis.

It was also informed at the meeting that inflation with regard to the Consumer Price Index decreased one per cent on a monthly basis in February 2020, but on a yearly basis, CPI recorded 12.4 per cent in February 2020.