ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, while chairing a presentation by the Statistics Division in Islamabad on Monday, has said that the government was committed to providing relief to the marginalized sections of the society by keeping a vigilant check on profiteering and hoarding and by effectively monitoring the price control mechanism on essential food items.
Statistics Division Secretary Shaista Sohail on the occasion gave the presentation in front of senior officials of the planning and statistics ministries.
It is pertinent to mention that the prime minister had assigned the additional portfolio of Ministry of Statistics to Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar on December 12, 2018.
The minister, during the presentation, was apprised that inflation for essential kitchen items has been less than 1pc since august 2018. The Statistics Division secretary also informed that Pakistan Bureau of Statistics was following international standards while collecting data.
Bakhtiar directed the Statistics Division to collect data of essential food items on Mondays, rather than Thursdays, to have a clear picture of prices of key items in the beginning of the week.
Noting that poor market information leads to profiteering and hoarding, the minister called for close coordination among all the stakeholders, including market committees and district administration, across the country.
He directed that a mechanism should be devised to educate the public on economic statistics, especially the trends in consumer price index (CPI) and inflation. He underscored the need to disseminate information to the general public through media so that consumers remain updated on the prices of essential kitchen items. He said he would soon hold a meeting with the federal information minister in this regard.
