Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Wednesday asked the Ministry of Commerce to expedite the process of imposing a ban on the export of perishable commodities to control prices in domestic market amid fears of further spike in food inflation in Pakistan due to hike in the international markets.
Chairing the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) meeting at the Finance Division, Tarin directed the commerce ministry to expedite the process in consultation with the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
The meeting was held a day after Economic Advisory wing of the Finance Ministry warned about second round of inflation.
Pakistan perishable exports include all kinds of vegetables including onion, potatoes, tomatoes, fruits and meats including beef and chicken, and fish.
The finance ministry report stated that yearly inflation in September is likely to end up in between 7.5pc to 8.4pc.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) gave a detailed presentation about collection of prices across different cities to compile weekly SPI. The NPMC directed to hold consultative sessions with provinces to sort out issues in effective coverage of markets to ensure data collected by PBS reflects the prevailing trend of prices of the items of daily use including Saasta Sahulat Baazars for extensive and accurate calculation.
While taking stock of the situation, Tarin expressed satisfaction over the release of wheat by the provincial government of Punjab at the government specified rate, noting that this was easing out the price of wheat flour bags in the province.
Furthermore, the finance minister directed the provincial chief secretaries of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to expedite the process for releasing wheat at the price determined by the government after fulfilling requisite formalities. He reiterated the firm commitment of the government to ensure smooth supply of wheat flour across the country at government specified price.
