ISLAMABAD:Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said on Tuesday that, when in power, the focus of PML-N, PPP remained on money laundering, fake accounts and corruption instead of taking steps to increase production of the country and improve economy. Addressing a press conference along with Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin and SAPM on Food Security Jamshwd Iqbal Cheema he said that global commodity prices did not rise from 2008 to 2018 when PPP and PML-N ruled the country. He said since the outbreak of Covid 19, reduction in production was registered and logistics costs shot up which resulted in increase of prices of daily use commodities. He said according to the UNFAO report, from February 2020 to August 2021, food items prices have increased globally by 127 per cent. He said that Pakistan imported 70 cent of pulses and edible oil. The minister said due to prudent government policies., the full impact of global inflation has not been shifted to the consumers. He said the present government was working on food security as it was vital for Pakistan as an agricultural country. He lamented that PML-N had set up sugar mills in cotton growing areas in the past and sugarcane cultivation had been started there which badly affected cotton production.
