‘Supply of wheat to flour mills increased in KP’

PESHAWAR: The daily supply of wheat to flour mills has been increased from 5000 to 6500 metric tonnes per day and effective steps have been taken to thwart hoarding and overpricing of flour, an official said on Wednesday.

A meeting chaired by Director Food Yasir Hussain discussed the recent hike in the prices of flour and reports of wheat shortage in the province. “The meeting rejected the reports about the flour/wheat crisis in the province and there was no shortage of wheat,” the official said, adding, the government had sufficient stock of wheat and the daily release to flour mills had been increased.

Also, more supply of wheat from Pakistan Agriculture Shortage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) and Karachi Port to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was in progress, which would strengthen the wheat stocks further, the meeting was informed.

“The government is daily providing 455,000 bags of 10 kg flour at the rate of Rs648 per bag to the general public through the 4143 registered dealers and 119 sales points,” the official said.

Due to the measures taken by the government, the prices of atta has significantly decreased in the open market. The price of different varieties of 20 Kg flour bags has shown a decrease of Rs 300 to 450 per bag. The prices of flour are expected to decrease further with the arrival of wheat from PASSCO and the ports.