LAHORE/KARACHI: Due to rising flour prices and the advent of underground marketplaces, individuals all around the nation no longer have access to flour and its byproducts.
Flour is now being sold for Rs130 per kg, fine flour is going for Rs150 per kg, and chakki flour is going for Rs160 per kg.
Despite the Punjab government allocating wheat to mills, the 10kg and 20kg flour sacks are in low supply. A 15kg bag now costs more than Rs 2000 each bag and sells for Rs 133 per kg, which is a huge increase. However, in Punjab, the cost of whole wheat flour has skyrocketed to Rs150 per kg.
Balochistan and Sindh, particularly the metropolitan areas, have seen a sharp increase in the price of flour to over Rs150 per kg, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is seeing a record-breaking price spike of Rs3,000 per bag for a 20kg bag of flour that is still in short supply. According to reports, Gilgit Baltistan, Azad, and Jammu Kashmir have higher prices.
The cost of naan and tandoori roti has increased since last year as a result of the high pricing.
Black markets and hoarding have emerged as a result of the commodity’s dual rates, particularly in Punjab. Numerous complaints have been made concerning the province’s wheat subsidy theft.
Additionally, some have expressed grave worries about the subsidised flour’s declining quality. Many people say that the mills are supplying poor quality, foul-smelling flour since there are no quality controls in place.
The crisis has gotten worse as a result of the macroeconomic situation getting worse, the depletion of foreign exchange reserves, and the damage of wheat crops owing to floods.
