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Wednesday, February 13, 1974
CONSUMER ADVISORY SERVICE MEANT AS A GUIDE FOR HOUSEWIVES
ENER
The Financial Secretary, the Hon. Philip Haddon-Cave said today
the Consumer Advisory Service serves the function of a guide for housewives
so that they could gauge retail margins of basic food commodities.
The scrvice came into operation last November as an authoritative
daily guide to wholesale prices and supplies of rice, vegetables, marine
fish and pork.
Mr. Haddon-Cave explained that the release of retail prices would
hardly benefit the individual housewife, since they would be averages or
ranges based on information collected from a large number of retail outlets
over a wide geographical area.
He was replying to a question from the Hon. Eilton Cheong-Leen
on the effectiveness of the Consumer Advisory Service.
The Financial Secretary referred to a speech he made in the
Council last November when he said the service was provided so that "with
experience in interpreting changes in this information .... the housewife
will be able to sec clearly for herself whether retail margins are reasonable."
The government monitors developments of prices, supplies, and
traders' margins very carefully, he added, and "there would be merit in,
the appropriate UMELCO group periodically meeting, and being briefed by,
the government officers associated with this monitoring process.
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