Flour crisis intensifies as roti price reaches to Rs25-30 in Pakistan
Pakistan is witnessing a flour crisis as tandoor owners have not only reduced the weight of tandoori roti but also increased its price to Rs25-30 across the country.
Shortage of gas has forced the citizens of Punjab to buy roti from Tandoor but, the rising prices have increased their worries.
Lahore Commissioner has refused to increase the price of bread, while Naanbai Association has announced to stage a protest on Thursday against the decision.
The whole-grain chakki flour has jumped up to an all-time high of Rs145 per kg across Lahore. Apart from that, different brands of flour are being sold at a price of Rs130 per kg in the provincial capital.
Flour Mills Association (FMA) Chairman Asim Raza said that the problem will not be solved until the wheat quota by government is increased as the smooth supply of flour grain in market will ease the prices of bread.
On the other hand, the spokesperson and deputy director of the food department, Ms Naeem Afzal, said that the mills owners were creating crisis as the government was providing wheat to them in quantity.
Due to the unprecedented hike in the wheat flour prices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), bread bakers have been forced to sell bread at Rs30 as against the official price of Rs15 in Peshawar, despite the fact that the district administration has turned down the request for an upward price revision.
Every effort on the part of the provincial government to keep the prices steady have failed to yield result as K-P is 75 per cent dependent on Punjab for its flour supply.
The annual wheat requirement of the province is 5 million metric tons, out of which 1.2 million is produced in the province while the rest is imported from Punjab.
It may be mentioned here that in the past one month flour got pricier by Rs5,000 per 80 kilo bag in K-P.
Flour price has hiked to Rs150 per kg in Sindh as well, making to the highest of all time.
The 10kg flour bag provided by the federal government at the utility stores, which costs Rs650, and the cheap flour bag of Sindh government, that costs Rs650 also disappeared from the market.
