The parliamentary committee on budget and finance is admitting that it is failing to push for the reduction of cooking oil prices as manufacturers are yet to furnish it with justifications for the increase.

Concerns on the hike started when the government placed a 16.5 percent VAT on cooking oil forcing traders to adjust upwards the retail and wholesale price of the commodity.

Chairperson for the committee, Gladys Ganda has confirmed the development.

Ganda questions why traders decided to increase prices with over 50 percent when the government only added a tax of less than 20 percent.