Centre asks provinces to share ghee, oil data
Amid looming shortages in Ramazan due to a host of reasons mainly restrictions on palm oil imports, the PMLN-led coalition government has directed provincial governments to provide monthly ghee and cooking oil consumption data and the number of mills in operations. The provincial administrations have also been instructed to share data on available stocks of edible oil and prices of different brands. The federal government took notice of surging prices very late despite a massive drop in the palm oil freight-on-board (FOB) rate to $1,000 per tonne in October 2022 from $1,600 per tonne in March 2022 in world markets. Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association Secretary General Umer Islam Khan said prices of ghee and cooking oil continued to rise due to the rupee devaluation against the dollar. The US dollar shot up to Rs276 from Rs220 in the interbank market making imports costlier since Ishaq Dar took over as finance minister of Pakistan. However, the exchange rate is now settled at Rs262. Citing reasons for rising ghee and cooking oil prices, he said the 1pc hike in general sales tax and massive increases in diesel, gas and packaging materials have pushed up the cost of production.