Edibles: FBR asked to keep tabs on movement

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin Wednesday directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to monitor the movement of imported edibles outside of the Fata/Pata to the settled areas.

The adviser was chairing weekly meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) to review the prices of daily use commodities and essential food items in the country.

Tarin directed the Ministry of Industries and Production to build strategic reserves of sugar to avoid price hike in the future as the meeting was told that the price of sugar is decreasing.

The meeting was briefed on the prices of pulse, which have shown slight increase in the week under review.

The meeting also reviewed the prices of edible oil in the country. The secretary finance briefed the NPMC about the weekly SPI situation and stated that prices of essential commodities tomatoes, potatoes, chicken farm, onions, eggs, gur, sugar, wheat flour bags have registered significant decline during the week.

It was also informed that prices of onions and tomatoes during the week under review witnessed same prices as these were three years before.

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The secretary finance further updated the NPMC that the prices of the wheat flour bags remained consistent at Rs1,100 per 20kg due to the proactive measures of the Punjab, the KP governments, and the ICT administration.

The meeting expressed satisfaction over the availability of sufficient stocks of wheat in the country. The NPMC noted that Sastaa and Sahulat Bazaars in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are offering essential goods at subsidised prices.

The adviser to the PM on finance and revenue commended the efforts of the Government of the Punjab and the KP administration in providing key items at discounted prices through arranging Sastaa Bazaars.

The meeting was attended by Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib, secretary finance, secretary industries and production, additional secretary commerce, provincial chief secretaries, chief statistician PBS, managing director Utility Stores Corporation, and other senior officers.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021