Relief could be seen through lower prices of essential commodities: Fawad

Stressing that impact of the increase in energy prices would be felt less by the public as rates of essential items are on a decline, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Wednesday that if the downward trend continues, there would be some relief for the masses.

"If this trend continues, people will get some respite considering the increase in the prices of petrol and energy," Fawad said, while virtually addressing the media after a meeting of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s core committee.

Fawad's statement comes as the government hiked the power tariff along with an over 8% increase in petrol prices that stoked fears of inflationary pressure in Pakistan. Inflation has already hit 9%, prompting the central bank to raise the key interest rate for the first time in over two years.

With rupee hitting new lows against the US dollar every other day, many believe that higher inflation is in the offing.

However, Fawad said prices of essential items including vegetables, cooking oil, flour, and wheat were seeing a declining trend.

Shifting to blame-game, the information minister added that the real issue was being caused by the Sindh government, which was delaying the release of wheat. "Because of this, a 20kg bag of flour is being sold for Rs400 more in Sindh as compared to Punjab and KP."

Fawad said that the federal government was pressing Sindh, where Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is in power, to increase the amount of wheat for other provinces so that prices can come down.

"According to our estimates, this year our wheat crop will be historic," he said.

Asad Umar says inflation expected to remain high till at least March

The minister said that sugar prices were coming down and would reduce further once the crushing season begins.

He also said that the government was working on controlling inflation and Prime Minister Imran Khan would announce a major programme in this regard in the coming days.

Fawad said that the premier has already directed all relevant authorities to take immediate steps to provide relief to the public.

On Tuesday, the premier had said that the government will announce a programme under the umbrella of the Ehsaas Programme next month to provide targeted subsidies on essential commodities to the marginalised communities.

He said under the Kamyab Jawan Programme, interest-free loans will also be given to the people in urban and rural areas.

Earlier today, Special Assistant for Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar briefed the Prime Minister on the Ehsaas Targeted Subsidy Programme. She said that through this programme, eligible families will receive discounts from grocery stores on specific items.

Inflation fears in Pakistan have also been compounded by a dramatic increase in the prices of international commodities with coal, copper, oil all contributing massively to the negative sentiment. Pakistan heavily relies on energy-related imports, which contributes to its bulging import bill.

Govt increases petrol price by Rs10.49 per litre

Earlier this week, ruling out an immediate relief, Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar had said that it could take at least five months for the increase in global commodity prices to head towards normalcy.

However, Umar said that a programme has been prepared to extend targeted subsidies on essential commodities to the marginalised segments of society.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan will share details of this program in the next few days whilst benefit of this program will start reaching the people by the end of next month," the minister said.

Umar further shared that the government has decided in principle to reduce the edible oil price by Rs45 to Rs50 per kilogramme, adding that this will be achieved by reducing taxes on edible oil.

Sales tax on edible oil will be cut from 17% to 8.50%, customs duty per ton to be halved and additional customs duty will be abolished, Umar added.

The government has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks as the pace of inflation increases in Pakistan, affecting people's purchasing power and their real incomes.