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Minister for Planning and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Monday said the government provided as much relief as it could to the masses in the wake of rising prices of commodities in the international market. 

Addressing the media in Islamabad, Umar said the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would become more stringent if not fulfilled and added that the Fund has been relaxing the conditions due to the right decisions taken by the country’s leadership.

#Live: Planning Minister @Asad_Umar addressing a news conference in Islamabad https://t.co/5wxTicsKvG
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) October 18, 2021

The minister further said that inflation is being talked about the world over. "The circumstances around the world are unusual and there has been a steep rise in the prices of edible commodities."

"Last year, the world faced the pandemic and it caused the world to come to a halt. Covid-19 caused great losses across the globe as well as a decline in the economic per capita."

This, Umar added, resulted in a plunge in the demand for the commodities. But Pakistan witnessed the demand and supply issue for a very short period as the country reopened industries related to essential commodities.

Also read Opposition to kick-start anti-inflation campaign

"So, the increase in the prices in Pakistan was much lower than it was in the international markets," he maintained.

To substantiate his point, Umar said that the prices of crude oil, edible oil, sugar and urea did not witness as much increase as they did internationally, while there was no increase in the price of gas.

Umar further said the government provided relief to the masses in POL prices as compared to the rest of the world.

"The masses were provided with billion of rupees worth relief in terms of petroleum development levy (PDL)," the minister maintained. "Simultaneously, Rs260 billion are being provided to the deserving under the Ehsaas Programme."

Umar said while customs levy is being halved, sales tax on edible oil will be decreased from 17 to eight per cent. He added that the decrease in the taxes will result in a Rs50 per litre decrease in the price of edible oil, while the government has set a target ofRs90 per kilo of sugar.

"The government is going to introduce a programme of targeted subsidy, which will start to bring relief to the masses within a month. International prices may also see a drop during March to June next year," he concluded.

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