Provinces directed to ensure supply of regulated wheat flour

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh Monday urged the provincial governments and departments concerned to take all necessary administrative measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of regulated wheat flour throughout the country.

The minister was chairing the weekly meeting of National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC), according to press statement issued by the Finance Ministry. Among others, the meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the PM on Commerce Razak Dawood, SAPM on Revenue Dr Waqar Masood, Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research (NFS&R), Secretary Ministry of Industries and Production, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue, Member Competition commission of Pakistan, Member Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, MD PASSCO, MD Utility Stores Corporation, Chairman Trading Corporation of Pakistan and senior officials of the Finance Division.

The federal minister further directed the provincial and district administrations to proactively monitor the prices of essential commodities to avoid hoarding and black marketing effectively. Earlier, NPMC reviewed the price trend of essential commodities especially wheat flour, eggs, chicken, sugar and edible oil during the week. Secretary Finance briefed the committee about weekly SPI that recorded a slight increase of 0.81%, whereas prices of 06 items decreased and 21 items remained stable during the last week.

Secretary Ministry of NFS&R updated NPMC about availability of sufficient stock of wheat across the country. He expressed satisfaction over the average per day releases by the provinces which was stable throughout the country.

Secretary Food, government of Balochistan apprised the committee about the arrangements being made for immediate lifting of 20,000MT wheat from PASSCO. Ministry of Industries and Production briefed the Committee that approximately 80% crushing of sugarcane has been completed during the current season. The carryover stocks plus the latest crushing would ensure sufficient availability of sugar in the coming months.

The ministry further requested the respective provincial governments to provide projections regarding the future sugar requirement for effective planning during the year. Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar lauded USC for covering more than 5% of the consumer demand for essential items at subsidized rates across the country.