ISLAMABAD: With a reduction in palm oil prices in the international market by 35%-40%, the ministry of industries has informed the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) that they are expecting a Rs20 per kg decrease in the price of ghee and cooking oil in a month.
The representative of the ministry on Wednesday, according to The News, informed the NPMC that there was a time lag of a couple of months, so the manufacturers were producing palm oil based on Goods of Declarations (GDs) cleared in June and July 2022.
Then the exchange rate depreciation also played a role, so as per their conducted study, the price of ghee and cooking oil should be reduced by Rs20 per kg in the domestic market.
On the other hand, the prices of palm oil in the international market witnessed a decline from $1,500 per tonne to less than $1,000 per tonne, so the prices registered a decrease of 35%.
The prices of palm oil in the international market had touched $1,800 per tonne a few months back and the prices in the domestic market had touched their peaks.
It’s quite strange that the government has so far remained unable to reduce the prices in the domestic market.
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An official statement Wednesday said that Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal chaired a NPMC meeting in Islamabad to assess the implementation status of the decisions taken in the previous NPMC meeting.
Chief Economist Dr Nadeem Javaid, officials from the Ministry of Finance, line ministries, FBR, Trading Corporation of Pakistan, Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan, PASSCO and representatives of provincial governments were present.
The minister, in light of recent floods that hit commodities including wheat, potatoes, tomatoes and other crops, reviewed the measures taken by the concerned departments and their subsequent impact on the trend in prices of essential items.
