Finance Minister Ishaq Dar wants “fair play” in consumer goods market

Finance Minis­ter Ishaq Dar yesterday, asked the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to ensure fair play in the consumer goods market besides exercising its authority to ward off cartelisation and monopolistic trends, and discourage deceptive marketing.

“The common man should receive the benefit of the provisions of competition laws,” the minister emphasised while chairing a meeting with a delegation of the CCP to review its performance and address the issues it is facing.

He said whenever price of any commodity rises, the general market trend is to take extra charges from consumers, a negative practice which should be shunned.

Citing the example of potatoes, he said its prices had remained rather higher in the market in recent months “despite facilitation by the government for tax and duty-free import of the vegetable”.

The minister said it were areas like these where the CCP needed to firmly put its foot down and exercise vigilance.