Flour mill owners have expressed concern that if Punjab does not lift the ban on the supply of wheat and flour to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the flour crisis could worsen during Ramadan and prices may rise further.
Speaking to the media, Provincial Chairman of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association, Naim Butt, said that Punjab has unlawfully forced a ban on the transportation of wheat and flour since August last year.
He said that as a result the prices of wheat and flour in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been nonstop increasing with the price of a 20kg flour bag reaching up to Rs3,000.
He said that if the ban is not lifted immediately the prices of flour and wheat could increase further during the month Ramadan.
By Ramadan the price of a flour bag could reach Rs4,000. Punjab produces 75 percent of Pakistan’s wheat.
Pakistan’s weekly inflation edges up as food prices surge
Pakistan’s weekly inflation rose slightly last month, increasing by 0.24 percent compared to the previous week, while showing a 3.75 percent rise compared to the same period last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.
According to the weekly SPI report, out of 51 essential items tracked, prices of 17 items went up, 14 items fell, and 20 remained stable.
Chicken saw the sharpest weekly increase at 11.11 percent, followed by chilli powder (3.08%), eggs (2.88%), and shirting fabric (1.64%). Other items registering modest rises included firewood, cooking oil, mustard oil, energy saver bulbs, pulse moong, and beef.
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