ISLAMABAD: Under Minimum Retail Price (MRP), the prices of 49 medicines has been increased by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet, putting an extra burden on poor people fighting diseases and poverty.
On the other hand, the government justified the recent price hike by claiming that the prices of these 49 drugs were 24% to 77% less compared to other regional countries, including Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.
The medicines included MultiBic 2 mmo1/1 potassium solution for haemodialysis/ haemofiltration by M/s Fresenius Medical Care Pakistan (Private) Ltd, Taflotan Ophthalmic Solution 0.0015% w/v OBS Pakistan MultiBic 4 mmo1/1 potassium solution for haemodialysis/ hemofiltration, MultiBic 3 mmo1/1 potassium solution for haemodialysis/hemofiltration and many others.
As a result of exchange rate variations, the ECC also approved an additional grant of Rs. 402.251 billion for debt servicing on Chinese and Saudi loans. When compared to the US dollar, the exchange rate was originally expected to be Rs186, but it has since declined to an average of Rs235.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar presided over the ECC meeting, according to an official statement by the Ministry of Finance following the meeting. The ECC authorized issuing a GoP guarantee in the sum of Rs9.5 billion for the project’s build-operate-transfer construction of the Hyderabad–Sukkur motorway.
To replenish its stockpiles and be better equipped to respond to any approaching crisis, it also approved spending Rs 12 billion to buy relief supplies. The Ministry of Interior’s request to release Rs66.336 million as TSG for building the Frontier Constabulary Training Centre at Michni, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was also approved by the ECC.
