President of Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) Mian Zahid Hussain has emphasised the need that the Prime Minister himself should oversee the prices mechanism to keep prices of essential items under control.
Lauding the steps taken by the Prime Minister to protect the poor from rising inflation, he said more steps should be taken to shield poor; otherwise, inflation would push millions to food insecurity which would also hit growth rate.
Mian Zahid demanded steps to bring down the price of flour and sugar because there was no scarcity of food in the country.
"Despite good wheat crop, flour price has been soared six times during the last four months while the sugar sector contributing rupees 18 billion in taxes has been subjected to 17 percent sales tax that has resulted in increase in its price," he said.
PBIF president alerted that the sector of ghee and cooking oil is also bracing for Rs 18 to Rs 20 per litre increase which would engender problems because the per capita consumption of this item in Pakistan has already remained below the global average.
The price of fertiliser has been increased by Rs 210 per bag that badly hit the agriculture sector and resultantly prices of staple, fruits and vegetables also went up.