The ECC approved an increase in the prices of 20 essential medications, including paracetamol, on February 10.
For the second time in less than three months, the federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved a 20% price increase on essential medications on Friday, putting them out of the reach of the poor in the face of skyrocketing inflation.
According to a statement released by the Finance Division, the choice was made during the ECC meeting with Senator Ishaq Dar, the federal minister of finance and revenue. The ECC approved an increase in the prices of 20 essential medications, including paracetamol, on February 10.
“To ensure continuous availability of drugs in the market, the ECC allowed, as a one-time dispensation, manufacturers and importers to increase their existing MRPs of essential drugs by a 70% increase in CPI (with a cap of 14%), and MRPs of all other drugs and lower priced drugs by an increase of up to 70% in CPI (with a cap of 20%) on the basis of the average CPI for the current year, i.e., July 1, 2022, to April 1, 2023, with the condition that it should be considered as an annual increase for the financial year 2023-24, and no increase under this category will be granted in the next financial year.”
In response to the devaluation of the rupee and inflation, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination presented a summary on the increase in the maximum retail prices of drugs based on the Policy Board of DRAP’s recommendations.
The ECC further advised the Policy Board to review the situation three months later, in July 2023, and to advise the federal government to lower prices if the value of the rupee increases.
In the meantime, the ECC reviewed and approved a report from the Ministry of National Food Security and Research on setting wheat procurement goals for the provinces of Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan for the wheat crop of 2022–2023.
i— The government of Sindh set a target for purchases of 1.400 MMT at a cost of Rs 4000/40 Kg.
ii– The government of Punjab set a 3.500 MMT procurement target with a price of Rs 3900/40 Kg.
iii – The government of Balochistan set a 0.100 MMT procurement target with a price of Rs. 3900/40 Kg.
The ECC approved Rs. 35 million as a technical supplementary grant to the Ministry of Interior for the establishment of Passport Processing Centres (PPCs) and 30 posts of MRP operational officers in the Department of Immigration and Passports.
The Ministry of Aviation submitted a summary of challenges and re-opening of Roosevelt Hotel, New York, and the ECC approved the recommendations of the ministry and formed a four-member negotiating committee to negotiate with the New York City government and the hotel union.
The ECC also allowed PIA-IL/ RHC to utilize $1.145 million from the available balance as bridge financing to commence the re-opening work at the Hotel.