Hafeez says inflation rate in the country to come down gradually

Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Hafeez Sheikh said on Monday that the inflation rate in the country will lower down gradually. The advisor said that the federal government had taken a number of steps to decrease prices of several utilities.

“The nation will see that soon the prices start falling down”, he added.

Hafeez Shaikh said the government did not borrow money from State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to control inflation, in addition to decreasing budget deficit by reducing unnecessary spending. Proposing the provinces to play their role in controlling inflation, he said issues of hoarding and profiteering need to be tackled by administrative action.

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He said to a query that the prices of food items that of fresh vegetables increased as a result of seasonal changes and hoped that the prices would fall in the days to come. He said that decision was also made to import wheat in a bid to control inflation.

He said the rupee-dollar parity had become stable now because of careful measures taken by the government. The advisor said investors from all over the world came to Pakistan due to the country’s stability and peace, and wanted to take advantage of the country’s huge opportunities.

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He said the government had doubled the funding for Ehsaas program in collaboration with the IMF, in addition to providing a Rs 7 billion package for Utility Stores Corporation to provide subsidized rates for the poor with items of daily use. He said the government supplied 72 per cent of electricity consumers along with subsidies.