PBIF calls for digital dashboard to track essential commodity stocks, curb hoarding

Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) president Mian Zahid Hussain proposed a digital dashboard to monitor essential goods supplies, arguing that better data would help authorities tackle shortages and hoarding. Profit reported that he wants federal and provincial authorities to coordinate more closely against food inflation, using digital data on wheat, flour and other staples. He also backed investment in storage, cold chains for perishables, transport and market systems to cut food losses and supply bottlenecks.

Citing Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data, Hussain put year-on-year consumer inflation at 10.3 per cent for September, down from 11.1 per cent in August. Electricity charges rose 32.46 per cent, motor fuel 37.73 per cent, wheat 40.96 per cent and wheat flour 31.71 per cent on a yearly basis in September. The Wholesale Price Index showed 13.3 per cent inflation.

He blamed much of the inflation on unstable global oil markets tied to the US-Iran war, while citing losses at state-owned enterprises and utilities as domestic pressures. He urged quicker energy reforms and a predictable tariff framework, as repeated electricity increases and extra levies complicate planning for production, exports and investment. He also praised the premier's petrol subsidy for lower-income households and sought further steps to cut basic goods costs. Given better macro stability, he argued policy should focus more on households and firms, through budget discipline, power reforms and cheaper operating costs.