Judicial commission to probe hike in sugar price | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Judicial commission to probe hike in sugar price

* Finance minister says talks with PML-N on economic reforms agenda heading in right direction

LAHORE: Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said a judicial commission headed by a judge of Supreme Court or high court has been formed to find out the reasons of sugar price hike in the country, a private TV channel reported on Wednesday.

Talking to journalists after the third round of dialogue between the parliamentary committees of the government and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Islamabad, Dr Hafeez said the negotiations on national economic reforms agenda were heading in right direction resulting in the economic revival of the country.

He said the price control mechanism committee, comprising the chief secretaries of the provinces, would meet tomorrow (Thursday) and submit its suggestions to the government. The suggestions and proposals of the petroleum price committee were being finalised, he said.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Shahid Hafeez Kardar said the meeting was apprised of the details of written off loans. “We provided two lists of loans, the first was from 1971 to 2003 and the second from 2003 onwards,” he added.

Kardar said 95 percent of the loans were small loans amounting to Rs 500,000 or less. Of the total written off loans, 48 percent were advanced by foreign banks or financial institutions, he added.

He said the government borrowing from SBP had reached Rs155 billion till September 2010, the channel reported. PML-N’s Ishaq Dar said the Punjab government has started implementing the policy of economic reforms and merged seven departments. The PML-N would continue to support the federal government on war on terrorism.

The next meetings of the parliamentary committee will be held on January 31 and February 2. However the sub-committees would continue their deliberations on different issues, the channel said.
Source: Daily Times
Date:1/27/2011