Ahsan Directs ICT Administration, Provinces To Stabilize Prices Essential Commodities Ahead Of Eid-ul-Azha

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th May, 2025) Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Monday chaired a meeting to review the current price trends of essential commodities across the country.

The meeting was attended by Chief Economist, Chief Statistician, and Director (Prices) of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), alongside representatives from Ministry of National Food Security & Research (MoNFS&R), and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration.

While officials from the provincial governments, the Competition Commission of Pakistan, and Utility Stores Corporation joined the meeting via Zoom, a news release said.

Reviewing implementation status of directions issued in previous meeting, the minister was briefed that a delegation of PBS officials visited all provincial governments from April to April 28 for consultations and briefing on price monitoring system.

During the meetings, detailed presentations were made on usage of Decision Support System for Inflation (DSSI) as a data providing tool for price monitoring.

The minister was also briefed that PBS was sharing whole-sale retail price differences with provincial and ICT administrations weekly.

He said provincial governments and the ICT administration would strengthen monitoring mechanisms to prevent hoarding and profiteering and take strict actions against violators.

The Chief Statistician of PBS presented an overview of the current price situation, noting a decrease in Consumer Price Index (General) inflation to 0.

3% in April 2025. CPI Inflation (Urban) also decreased to 0.5% in April 2025 while a decrease of -0.1% was recorded in CPI (Rural) in April 2025.

Ahsan Iqbal directed PBS to share details of commodities having higher profit margins with provincial and ICT administrations.

Furthermore, the weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) trend since last 10 weeks was reviewed. City wise mapping of commodities was also presented and discussed during the meeting.

The minister directed Ministry of National Food Security & Research to prepare roadmaps for cold chains of perishable items and encouraged industrial processing of vegetables. He also instructed relevant officers from the ministry to prepare an outcome-based plan to promote indigenous production of high-import commodities.

Additionally, he highlighted the importance of ensuring that farm markets receive fair profit in order to maintain sustainability of food supply and rural economic stability.

The Federal minister directed relevant departments to ensure that no unexpected shocks were noticed before Eidul Azha.

He also stated that five essential commodities including sugar, ghee, potato, onion, and tomato should not be high priced.

Regarding ensuring Eid-ul Azha preparations, he directed provincial representatives to inform local authorities to maintain stability in prices during the next month.