Regulating, monitoring prices of essential commodities: MoF asked to prepare plan within 15 days

The sub-committee of Senate Standing Committee on Finance directed on Thursday the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to come up with a workable plan within 15 days to regulate and monitor the prices of essential commodities in the face of rising hoarding and profiteering.
Special Secretary Finance Rana Asad Amin assured the sub-committee meeting that the Finance Ministry would come up with a plan in consultation with the Ministry of Food Security, Ministry of Industries, Planning Commission and especially Law Ministry whose input would be vital for making amendments to the law for administrative and enforcement powers.
The sub-committee chairman Senator Ishaq Dar said that free market price mechanism in Pakistan was increasingly viewed as anti-consumer and he agreed on adopting an effective price control mechanism. This was the first meeting of the sub-committee, which met here on Thursday to finalise recommendations to thwart unjustified price hike and black-marketing, adulteration and counterfeit.
The meeting asked the Ministry of Finance to consider the proposals, which were finalised during the meetings between government economic team and PML-N team on the proposed 10-point agenda on economic reforms in the country. The meeting also asked the official of Finance Ministry to consult the Law Ministry on the issue and prepare recommendations after removing all the legal hitches. The committee members were unanimous that the consumers could not be left at the mercy of cartels and profiteers.
The Special Secretary Finance Ministry said that Consumer Price Index (CPI) had witnessed decline during the last two months but started to surge in the month of November 2011. He attributed the increase in inflation to rise in the prices of commodities in the international market.
He said that there had been a declining trend in oil prices during the last four months. However, he added there was a forecast that the oil prices might increase by January 2012 and that would further fuel inflation. The sub-committee would meet again after fifteen days to finalise the proposals on regulation and monitoring of prices of essential commodities.