Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar chaired a cabinet committee meeting to review stocks and prices of essential commodities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
“Adequate stocks were available to meet domestic demand, with no shortages anticipated and prices stabilising,” Dar was informed.
Dar directed the relevant departments to monitor supply chains and commodity prices to facilitate domestic consumers, in line with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s directives.
He further stressed that “strict action would be taken against hoarding, artificial shortages and overpricing of essential commodities”, the ministry’s statement said.
The meeting was attended by National Food Security and Research Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik, Special Assistant to PM Tariq Bajwa, Secretary Commerce Jawad Paul and senior representatives from relevant federal, provincial ministries and departments.
Pakistan’s short-term inflation rose to 11.97 per cent year-on-year in the week ending Oct 8, driven largely by higher food prices, particularly wheat flour, according to official data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Earlier this month, millers increased wheat flour prices at an average of Rs14 per kg. In the last week of September, they cut prices for various flour varieties by Rs3 per kg, but this failed to provide any price relief to consumers, as retailers kept the prices unchanged.
On Oct 7, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah approved the release of government wheat at Rs12,500 per 100kg bag from Oct 15, aimed at stabilising skyrocketing flour prices and ensuring availability of the commodity in the province. However, flour millers on Thursday refused to lift the official wheat, claiming the grain is of substandard quality and unfit for human consumption.
The International Monetary Fund has projected Pakistan’s inflation to remain close to double digits for another year. Headline inflation is projected to rise significantly to 9.9pc from 7.1pc last year.