ISLAMABAD: With an aim to digitally record prices of essential items, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday approved the Decision Support System for Inflation (DSSI) to monitor the rates of commodities in 17 major cities.
Commenting on the decision during a meeting with the officials of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the prime minister said that the digital system would ensure timely administrative actions in case of abrupt price movements, besides monitoring the prices of essential commodities and evaluating the performance of district administrations.
“The system will highlight the element of transparency in the decision-making process,” he added.
According to sources, the DSSI would help monitor the performance of concerned deputy commissioners in terms of the implementation of price lists, commonly known as DC rates of essential food items, and on the basis of such performance, a “ranking of governance will be released every Thursday”.
The system would help the policymakers – National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC), provincial governments and district administration – in taking evidence-based policy decisions and addressing the causes of inflation in the country, they added.
As per the PBS officials, the system would ensure the provision of market-level information, city-wise comparison of prices and time series data. It would provide a data-driven mechanism for higher management at the provincial and federal levels, including the prime minister, to monitor the performance of district administrations on weekly as well as monthly basis.
