Ahsan asks provincial administration to check undue profiteering.

ISLAMABAD -- Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday directed provincial administration to strictly monitor the profiteering and take all the associations in the loop to transfer relief to the peoples.

He said this while chairing the meeting of National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) to assess the implementation status of the decisions taken in the previous NPMC meeting, said a press release.

Ahsan Iqbal also directed to discourage the undue profiteering by retailers and to take concrete measures in this regard as there were huge gaps in the prices of wholesale and retail markets.

The minister also directed the Provincial governments and Islamabad administration to make concerted efforts to mitigate the profit margins between the wholesale and retail prices of the essential items.

Chief Economist Dr. Nadeem Javaid, Officials from Ministry of Finance, line Ministries, FBR, Trading Corporation of Pakistan, Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan (USC), Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation Limited (PASSCO), and representatives of Provincial governments attended the meeting.

In the light of the recent floods and its impact on staple food commodities including wheat, potatoes, tomatoes and other crops, the minister reviewed the measure taken by the concerned departments and the subsequent impact on the trend in prices of essential items.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) presented the report on Sensitive Price Index (SPI). It was reported that prices of 10 essential items including electricity, tomatoes, LPG Cylinder...