Wheat procurement completed in Punjab, the issue of price of flour began to arise

By Our Correspondent

LAHORE : As soon as the procurement of wheat was stopped in Punjab, the issue of price of flour started coming up.

According to sources, the food department has procured 3.8 million tonnes of wheat this year while the private sector has procured 1.5 million tonnes of wheat. However, Punjab needs another 1 million tonnes of wheat to control the price of flour.

Officials of the Flour Mills Association said that if the government did not import wheat in time, there could be a problem of shortage and price of flour. The price of wheat in the open market is high, which can add up to Rs 100 per 20 kg bag of flour. The Flour Mills Association further said that the increase in turnover tax by the government would also increase the price of flour.

According to sources, wheat smuggling from Punjab is also feared due to high prices in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. District Food Controller Umair Saghir says if wheat is not smuggled to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there will be no flour problem in Punjab and the Punjab government is going to start convenience points at specific shops soon to supply subsidized flour.