PM directs cabinet to ensure no flour price hike

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday directed the federal cabinet to ensure that price of the flour was not increased and keep a constant vigil on the price of the commodity.

Chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet, the prime minister directed for keeping an eye on the situation of availability of wheat and ensure that no artificial shortage was created anywhere in the country.

The cabinet ratified decisions of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) taken on July 17, 2019. The ECC in its meeting had slapped a ban on export of wheat and flour to arrest recent hike in prices of the staple food.

The cabinet decided to keep some regulatory departments under the purview of the Cabinet Division till further order so that they could perform their responsibility without any interference. The departments included Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Frequency Allocation Board, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and  Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).

The prime minister stressed for making the role of regulations and regulatory departments possibly minimized so that business activities were promoted and all hurdles under the head of regulations could be removed effectively.

The federal cabinet approved Additional Secretary (Expenditures) Ministry of Finance as Member of the Commission for Inquiry on Foreign Loans during the last ten years.

The federal cabinet amended the rules for recruitment of Chairman Pakistan Academy of Letters, besides approving to abolish the column of ‘profession’ from the passport.

The federal cabinet viewed that the providing the overseas Pakistanis an opportunity to take part in the political process was in the interest of the country.

The cabinet allowed Pakistanis holding the dual nationality to take part in the elections and formed a committee to initiate the process of required legal amendments.

The federal cabinet granted 120-days extension to the eight wage board award.

During a briefing on the steps to uplift Pakistan Post and their output, the cabinet was told that the revenue of the institution had increased by 70 percent from Rs 10.8 billion in 2017-18 to Rs 18.05 billion in 2018-19.

The cabinet was also apprised in detail about the measures being taken to modernize the Pakistan Post.

The prime minister appreciated the performance of the Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed.