(August 21, 2020)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday said administrative action and threats have failed to reduce prices flour and sugar therefore strategy should be changed to negotiate to get the desired results.
The government has pushed IPP to reduce the electricity price through negotiations and it should follow the same path for flour and electricity, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the government should stop blaming former government to inflation and other problems as they are ruling the country for two years and now masses will not buy their accusations.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that former governments took interest in keeping prices balanced and frequently help price committees meetings but the present government has not held any reported meeting so far.
He noted that district administrations should also follow the footsteps of former district administrations to improve the situation.
The business leader noted that lack of investment opportunities has pushed many to invest in food items, local currency has eroded substantially, taxes on fuel are very high, while not a single kilogram of wheat or sugar has been imported since the crisis gripped the country.
The production of sugarcane is lowest in the last five years and the sugar production in 2019-20 was lowest in a decade which should also be noted, he demanded.
