The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved a comprehensive plan to overcome price hike and shortage of food items.
The meeting also approved a proposal for setting up of camp offices of the president and prime minister.
“Today, for the first time it felt that steps being taken by the government will help bring down prices and overcome shortage of food items in the country,” Information Minister Shibli Faraz said in his post-cabinet meeting press conference.
The Minister also recently said that the prime minister has directed the cabinet to devise strategy to lower prices of essential items.
Addressing a media briefing after cabinet meeting in Islamabad last week, he said the cabinet was given detailed briefing about stocks of wheat and sugar in the country. “The federal cabinet members decided to launch crackdown on profiteers and hoarders to lower price of essential items.”
About the prevailing wheat shortage and high prices of flour, Mr Faraz blamed the Sindh government led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for allowing an increase in prices of wheat flour.
“We have reports that a 20kg bag of wheat flour is being sold at between Rs1,100 and Rs1,500 in Sindh whereas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa it is available in the price range of Rs1,100 and Rs1,300,” he said, adding that “if the price of a commodity goes up in any place, its effects are felt throughout the country”.
The minister said the Sindh government’s failure to purchase wheat on time led to a flour shortage in the province, adding that it had now decided to purchase the commodity by Oct 16.
Due to the wheat crisis, Naan was being sold for Rs15 in most parts of the country instead of its previous price of Rs10.
Furthermore, the federal cabinet decided to allow the prime minister to keep one camp office, Mr Faraz said.
“The prime minister said there should be only one camp office to limit expenditure,” the minister said, adding that former premier Nawaz Sharif and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari had kept several camp offices. Only one camp office of Nawaz Sharif in Jati Umra had 2,752 police personnel for his security, he said.
Faraz highlighted that Prime Minister Imran Khan is working for a developed and corruption-free Pakistan and an impartial and transparent accountability process will continue in the country.
