The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has launched a new Market Intelligence Unit (MIU).
Its objective is to create advanced technological and data analytical capabilities to assess the market data to identify collusive practices. It’s a transition from the previous approach of reactive enforcement to proactive enforcement.
CCP has already signed an MoU with the Urban Unit in Punjab. CCP will also be obtaining data on all essential commodities from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. It will also obtain data on all essential products, and various sectors of the economy to identify collusive practices and cartels.
The collusions and cartels drive the prices up in the economy maximizing their profit at the expense of poor nations. The history of market abuse is as old as the markets itself.
Unscrupulous players have become sophisticated and leave no smoking guns. In line with the international approach, MIU will gather economic data. The unit will monitor various sectors and industries through market surveys and consumer feedback.
It will monitor the supply and demand side to identify distortion in natural equilibrium. It will use various software, tools, econometrics models, and price movement analysis to curb market abuse, collusion, and cartels in the economy.
