Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed strict monitoring of food prices and market regulations during Ramadan to prevent profiteering and hoarding. He warned that those exploiting citizens should face strict action, but innocent traders should not be unfairly punished. Chairing a meeting in Islamabad, he praised the efforts of the committee overseeing essential commodity supplies and commended the Islamabad administration for controlling inflation.
He emphasized that the government is committed to providing maximum relief during Ramadan. He instructed federal ministers and officials to visit Ramadan bazaars and fair-price shops to ensure price control measures are implemented properly. Continuous monitoring, he stressed, is necessary to make sure people get essential goods at affordable rates.
Officials briefed the prime minister that 16 facilitation stalls, five Ramadan bazaars, and 18 fair-price shops had been set up across Islamabad. Essential items like cooking oil, pulses, sugar, eggs, and poultry were available at lower-than-market prices. To tackle hoarding and profiteering, authorities have conducted nearly 5,000 inspections, leading to 785 arrests and fines totaling Rs728,000.
Additionally, an online system is being used to track price magistrates performance, ensuring effective enforcement of price controls. Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal has also set up eight locations in the capital to provide free iftar meals to underprivileged citizens. Federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Attaullah Tarar, Talal Chaudhry, and other senior officials attended the meeting.