Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal chaired a meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee on Friday, where it was revealed that Pakistan’s inflation rate fell to the lowest rate in nine years. Despite this, provinces have struggled to control prices.
During the meeting, Ahsan Iqbal criticized provincial governments for underutilizing PBS’s Price Scorecard, a digital tool to monitor and control local price fluctuations. The KP Chief Secretary accessed the system 114 times, earning praise from the minister. In contrast, the Sindh Chief Secretary logged in only 10 times, Punjab 6 times, and Balochistan not at all.
Among deputy commissioners, Islamabad DC logged in 27 times, Karachi 6, and Quetta 4.
The Planning Minister directed PBS to send a monthly login report to all chief secretaries to enforce accountability. He stressed the need for daily monitoring using the Price Scorecard and called for early preparation of a supply-demand plan for Ramadan.
He also noted that food prices remained stable during Eid-ul-Adha, and urged all DCs to compare wholesale and retail prices and for provincial governments to ensure effective oversight.
Chief Statistician of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported that food inflation in urban areas was 4.2 percent, compared to 2.6 percent last year, attributing some supply issues to highway closures in Sindh.
Several essential items, including LPG, bananas, mustard oil, gram, and moong dal, have seen price reductions. However, sugar prices remain high at Rs. 190 per kg, as production fell by one million tons to 5.8 million tons this year. To address the shortfall, the Ministry of Food has decided to import 500 tons of sugar.
Get the latest business news, market insights, and economic updates wherever you prefer.
Add ProPakistani to Preferred Sources and see more of our stories in Google Search and Top Stories.