ISLAMABAD – Ministry of Finance says the outcome of stabilization policies,agriculture sector interventions, rigorous monitoring at federal andprovincial levels and favourable weather will bring in better results ineasing out inflation and sustain the economy towards growth andproductivity in the coming days.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Finance on Monday,adverse effects of pre-monsoon rains on wheat crop, disruption of supplychain of essential items due to harsh winters, delay in harvest and arrivalof crop in the market and lower production of vegetables led to higher foodinflation.
But the change of weather and better supply of potatoes, tomatoes andonions should result in smooth supply and decrease price pressure.
Another factor contributing to higher inflation was the global priceimpact. The commodity prices like palm oil increased by 43.9 percent,Soybean oil by 12.8 percent, crude oil by 16.6 percent in December 2019over December 2018 also pushed up the domestic prices.
The government has also taken several relief measures to protect thevulnerable from the price-hike.
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These measures include provision of subsidy to Utility Stores Corporationon five essential items for which 7 billion rupees have been transferred toMinistry of Industries and Production; 226.5 billion rupees allocated inthe budget for low end consumers using less than 300 units of electricityin a month;
Prime Minister’s Ehsaas program with doubled social safety net allocationof 190 billion rupees from 100 billion rupees; record allocation 152billion rupees for merged FATA districts; and reduced GST on LPG to 10percent from 17 percent.
