PA’s Budget and Accounts Committee Discusses Economy Ministry’s plans within investment budget

DAMASCUS, (ST) – The People’s Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Committee on Sunday discussed the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade’s strategy to implement its proposed plans and projects within the framework of the investment budget allocated to the ministry for 2013.

Discussions dealt with the procedures adopted by the economy ministry to ease the impacts of the crisis which has been hitting the country and with ways of securing enough foreign currency to buy basic materials.

Members of the Committee called for promoting products in local markets and supporting small-sized industrial enterprises which create new job opportunities and help secure income to some families.

They stressed the need to activate export-import activities, urging traders to ensure raw materials and not to manipulate any kind of goods.

 Mohammad Zafer Muhabbek, the Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade said “there is no problem in ensuring the foreign currency needed to buy food stuff, medicine and requirements of the oil and electricity ministries,” stressing that there is no need to worry about the increase of the foreign currency’s purchase price as it goes up and down according to expectations concerning current events.

Muhabbek commended the government’s plan to direct its economic policy eastward so as to cope with the global economic strategies, stressing the ministry’s keen efforts to meet citizens’ needs for food materials and to facilitate procedures to provide services to citizens with a minimum cost as soon as possible.

H. Moustafa