Govt may beef up price controls
The Commerce Ministry plans to tighten retail price controls by adding 50 products to its watch list and more than 15 products to its price-control list if inflation grows higher than 5.5 per cent by the end of the year.
In its latest economic assessment, the ministry's Trade Bureau has drawn up a worst-case scenario where inflation exceeds 5.5 per cent. To counter this, the ministry has drawn up two interest-rate projections to manage the economy. Firstly, if inflation reaches 4.5-5.5 per cent, the ministry will immediately add 20 products to the Internal Trade Department's watch list, to monitor retail prices and production costs. In addition, a further 12 consumer items will be put on its price-control list. For the worst case scenario, inflation was projected to exceed 5.5 per cent. In this case the ministry will add 50 products to the watch list, and put price controls on 35 more products. The ministry currently has 150 products on its watch list and the retail price of 23 products is controlled. "Skyrocketing oil prices will add to inflationary pressures so we plan to keep inflation as low as possible by adding additional products to our price control systems," a trade department official said. The ministry is still monitoring retailers and department stores around the country to protect consumers from unfair trade practices. "The ministry will double the fines on traders found to be indulging in unfair trade practices," the official said.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation
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