Finance Division has decided to strengthen Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) so that the latter could play a proactive role in preventing the formation of cartels, which results in excessive profiteering and stoking inflation.

The Ministry of Finance has been asked by a sub-committee of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly to strengthen the CCP to play its necessary role to control the formation of cartels which leads to excessive profiteering.

The Finance Division has endorsed the recommendations in respect to strengthening the CCP in order to play more proactive role to discourage the formation of the cartelization. The Finance Division has stated that it will take necessary measures in this regard in consultation with the CCP and will process for meeting the recommendations of the sub-committee.

The CCP cited that financial sustainability is essential to strengthen the Commission and this could be done by making;(i) payment of 3 percent from regulatory bodies - SECP, Nepra, Ogra, PTA, Pemra - of the fee and charges collected by them; (ii) budget enhancement; (iii) appointment of competition appellate tribunal and Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) may provide support for expeditious disposal of cases.

The CCP can provide competition in all spheres of commercial and economic activities to enhance economic efficiency and to protect consumers from anti-competitive behavior, deceptive marketing practices and mergers that substantially lessen competition.

An official on condition of anonymity said that inflation at present is the highest in the country during the last 15 years on the back of substantial increase in the prices of food items specially perishables. He said that non procurement of wheat by Sindh has led to increase in price of flour, initially in the province and subsequently it may have spillover impacts in Punjab as well. He also maintained that average month-on-month build-up of inflation for the last four months was between one percent and one-and-a-half-percent.