Pakistan will end up facing severe indebtedness if the Punjab government doesn’t take significant economic measures. Formerly, the Punjab government fixed prices for the grocery stuff, which might give rise to an economic crash. The country is on the edge of being indebted to a loan of $300 Million by the World Bank due to these fixed rates. Consecutively, the District administration approved a fixed price charter for milk and meat. This initiative was taken under the Price Control and Prevention of Price Profiting and Hoarding Act 1977.
The World Bank conditioned that the Punjab government must end the fixed rates on the grocery items. Contrary to that, it must let the market forces decide the rates of the goods by itself. The nation’s regulatory system is not advanced and well built, hence the consumers have to deal with the market players.
Punjab government took a loan of $300 Million from the World Bank for its SMART program. The acronym for Strengthening Markets for Agriculture and Rural Transformation executed two years back in February 2020. Since then, it is being implemented in the country. The World Bank has formed a link with the reduction of wheat stock with that of the 70% loan disbursement. However, the Punjab government looks forward to acquiring a ratio of 40 Mn tons of wheat from the inland farmers for the sake of food security in the country. Major reforms need to be executed by the Punjab government to resolve this impending issue.
