Parliament and Minister of Trade and Industry discuss rising cost of essential goods, joint committee to send recommendations to KRG
Kurdistan Parliament Speaker Dr. Rewaz Faiq on 12 June 2022 presided over a sitting for deliberations on high market prices and the rising cost of living, particularly of essential goods.
Deputy Speaker Dr. Hemin Hawrami and Secretary Muna Kahveci were alongside Speaker Faiq. The KRG Minister of Trade and Industry Kamal Muslim and Minister for the Region for Parliament Affairs Dr. Vala Fareed answered MPs’ questions.
The joint Parliament committee, made up of the commerce and industry committee and the consumer rights committee, first presented their report on the rising cost of living. The report pointed to the impact of higher production costs, higher inflation and market volatility in the Kurdistan Region.
The joint committee made many recommendations, including prescribing that the relevant ministries make a proper plan to: support businesses and domestic factories by reducing customs on imports; support locally produced goods; monitor the market and regulate prices; create more competition by providing a level playing field for all businesses; and establish a consumer rights council under the provisions of Kurdistan Region's Law No. 9 of 2010.
Speaker Faiq asked MPs to vote on holding the rest of the sitting off-camera, per Article 9 of Parliament’s Internal Rules of Procedure, which was approved with 60 MPs voting in favour.
MPs expressed their views on the joint committees’ report and on the rising cost of living and prices generally, and put questions to the Minister Kamal Muslim, who explained his ministry’s steps to improve and regulate commerce and industry generally and responded to MPs’ questions and comments.
Speaker Faiq thanked Minister Kamal Muslim and Minister Fareed, and per Article 67 (paragraph 3) of the Internal Rules of Procedure she suggested that the joint committee update their report and recommendations, in light of the deliberations and answers, and then direct it to the Government and monitor its implementation. The motion was approved by a majority.
