ECC orders check on profiteering

The caretaker government on Tuesday asked the provincial governments to take administrative measures to keep a check on profiteering by the market players and to maintain a reasonable gap between wholesale and retail prices of essential food items and consumer products. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet presided over by caretaker finance minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar which also approved payment of salaries of remaining employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills on a monthly basis for six months. The meeting, however, did not immediately clear a Power Division’s proposal for transitioning its electricity contracts to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) based on interest calculations from the London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor) that came to an end on June 30 in the international financial markets.