Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin presided over the meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) held at the Finance Division today. He briefed the participants of the meeting that Prime Minister is determined to bring ease in the lives of the poor in Pakistan. A multi-pronged approach is being followed for this purpose. Different schemes and incentives have been rolled out and many more are on the cards to uplift the lives of common people. The recently presented Federal Budget 2021-2022 is practical manifestation of pro poor approach of the government. All departments and organizations should contribute to uplift lives of the under privileged. Prices of commodities of daily use have direct impact on lives of common people. National Price Monitoring Committee is a forum which is actively monitoring the prices of essential items and ensuring its smooth supply. The Difference between wholesale and retail prices of essential items is not only huge but also varies across different cities which require thorough analysis. Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Mr. Shaukat Tarin expressed these views while chairing the meeting of National Price Monitoring Committee at Finance Ministry on Monday. The meeting was attended by SAPM on Finance and Revenue, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Secretary Finance Division, all Chief Secretaries, Chief Commissioner Islamabad, representatives of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and other relevant departments.
During the meeting the Secretary Finance briefed that the weekly SPI decreased by 0.59 % during the last week. A week earlier the weekly SPI declined by 0.61 percent. It is the third consecutive week that SPI is declining. He further briefed the meeting that the prices of 09 items declined during last week. The prices of 28 items remained stable while prices of 14 items saw slight upward trend. The meeting took stock of the strategic reserves of essential commodities and the Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue issued directions to relevant departments maintain the strategic reserves of essential commodities and ensure timely and appropriate measures to avoid any untoward situation.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin during the meeting said that National Price Monitoring Committee should adopt a comprehensive and pro active strategy to minimize the gap of prices between grower and retailers. This reduction in gap will significantly lower the prices of the essential commodities for end users. He further said that Federal Bureau of Statistics is an independent entity but a committee with SAPM on Finance and Revenue as chairman and consisting of representatives from all stakeholders including representatives from provinces should engage with Federal Bureau of Statics to work out further perfection in data collection mechanism of PBS wherever required.
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