Spanner in the works_ Prices have been Unstable

Spanner in the works: In the absence of a social security network, PAKISTANIS distributes Zakat to support the weaker. Their religiosity, however, does not prohibit them from benefiting from Ramazan.

There is a firm prohibition on the export of all edible products before further orders to ensure an effective supply on the local market. Exports of basmati rice (59pc), meat (57pc) and vegetables and fruits (100pc) exports over the last ten months of the fiscal year have incidentally increased by 36%, largely as a result of an increase in exports. Quantitatively, because of the strong fall in the rupee, revenues were substantially higher.

At the same time, the government named Shaista Bano Gillani as the new Chairman of the Pakistan Competition Commission (CCP) after dismissing, with the help of the court, three senior CCP officials suspected of complicity with the cartels. 

Despite the collusion charge, the real issue is that those who control the market are being penalised by a long and lengthy method. Indeed, regulatory bodies formed for consumer safety have become toothless organisations. They should be able to work effectively by the PTI government.

For a number of factors, agricultural production has not kept up with increasing food needs, and food imports (excluding edible oil) have doubled in the last five years.

The Central Bank researchers note that the pattern is more pronounced in the case of small crops, pulses, fruit and vegetables, the cultivation of which has also been harmed by farmers moving to large crops, particularly when a minimum price is assured.

This indicates, they wrote, that domestic prices of these goods are increasingly vulnerable to global markets, exchange rates, trade partners’ export policies and domestic import policies.

Even the government tends to raise electricity rates despite being unable to boost the efficiency of failing energy providers in any significant way.

The think tank members of the Prime Minister’s team advised the government to pass on the advantages of lower world oil prices to customers.

The Platform is investigating the feasibility of raising the general sales tax on branded products from 17pc to 5pc to improve consumer demand in the next two years. Around the same time, the government has to focus on long-term strategies to keep the prices of basic consumer products steady.