ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has sought innovative ideas from sub-committee of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) on Agriculture to ensure price stability in major commodities of daily use.

The finance minister, on Monday, presided over the meeting of sub-committee of the EAC on Agriculture that reviewed the entire food supply chain from farmer to end-consumer for minimizing the price differential between wholesale and retail prices of basic commodities.

The sub-committee key focus would be to work out a regulatory mechanism to ensure that the farmer gets a fair share and undue profiteering is curtailed effectively.

The finance minister stated that agriculture plays a central role in Pakistan’s economy and the government is focused on transforming this sector.

There is a need to re-visit the farm-to-end-consumer chain by removing bottlenecks in farm labour, processing, transport, and logistics.

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has made the situation particularly challenging due to disruptions on supply side, he added.

Tarin directed the sub-committee members to work out and present holistic proposals during the next meeting.

The finance minister encouraged the members to come up with innovative ideas to ensure price stability in key commodities of daily use.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Finance and Revenue Dr Waqar Masood, SAPM on Food Security Jamshaid Cheema as well as private members, Amer Aziz, Mansoor Arfeen, Aftab Anwar, Saadat Ejaz, and Arif Nadeem also attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021