Govt should provide basic food items for consumers at an affordable price: Tarin

Federal Finance and Revenue Minister Shaukat Tarin on Thursday repeated the government’s firm commitment to providing essential foods at affordable prices to consumers across the country.

The minister also highlighted the importance of building strategic reserves of essential commodities, such as wheat, sugar, pulses, ghee, tomatoes, onions, and potatoes, to eliminate undue profit margins and stabilize prices for everyday items. Shaukat Tarin held a meeting with Special Assistant Prime Minister for Food Security Jamshed Iqbal Cheema in the Finance Division.

During the meeting, the general situation regarding the availability of essential foods was discussed.

The “Agriculture Transformation Plan” was also discussed, which is being introduced to move conventional agriculture to the next level and commercial agriculture that aims to increase the country’s agricultural productivity.

The Minister of Finance underlined the need to involve all relevant stakeholders in the successful implementation of the proposed Agriculture Transformation Plan.

He also guaranteed his full support and facilitation on the occasion. The Minister of Finance also wished to use the SAPM (Special Assistants to the Prime Minister) experience in Food Security to effectively control the prices of essential food products regularly to provide maximum relief to the general public.

SAPM highlighted that the ‘Agriculture Transformation Plan’ will promote agribusiness, attract private sector investment, reduce post-harvest losses, add value to local agricultural products, develop rural infrastructure and increase access to microcredit for farmers.

Published in Lahore Herald #BasicFoodItems, #ShaukatTarin Published in Lahore Herald