Utility Stores Corporation has been given the subsidy of more than rupees 15 billion in almost three years to facilitate the masses. The basic objective of the subsidy to USC is to stabilise prices of essential items in the country and ensure their smooth supply at affordable rates.
Official sources, while enumerating the year-wise steps taken to control the prices of daily commodities, on Sunday said the government is keeping a close watch on the movement of prices of essential items through fortnightly Economic Co-ordination Committee meetings and suggests necessary measures for maintaining price stability.
The sources said as result of numerous measures, government has succeeded to bring inflation down from 25.3 percent in August 2008 to 14.2 percent in January 2011 and further to 13.1 percent in June 2011. They informed that the cabinet, also, reviews inflationary trend and prices of essential commodities in its meeting on fortnightly basis, adding that a committee has been working under the chairmanship of Secretary Finance for effective price checking of essential items in consultation with the provincial governments.
So far, five meetings of the committee (NPMC) have been held since January 2011 to monitor the price trend of essential food items in general and dairy, livestock products in particular.
Answering a question, the sources said to control inflation, measures have also been taken in the monitory policy, which include: fiscal deficit kept under check mainly because of better expenditure controls while federal government is giving policy directions to control inflation while operational work is being done at the provincial level.
They further said the existing mechanism available for price control in the provinces is the formation of the Price Control Committees at the district level.
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