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PFMA warns of deepening flour crisis
KARACHI (April 23
2004): Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) on
Thursday warned that if the government did not
ease out wheat supplies to the flour mills, the
present flour crisis in Karachi would further
aggravate in the coming days.
Being the non-wheat growing area, Karachi is
totally dependent on two wheat sources, ie Sindh
Food Department and the open market. But since the
provincial Food Department has run out of wheat
stocks and its supply to the mills has touched
zero level in the recent days, sharp rise in the
wheat prices of open market is expected which in
turn, is bound to shoot up flour prices also.
In this case the open market will act freely on
supply/demand mechanism and nobody will have any
check on the wheat prices.
PFMA Vice Chairman Naeem Ahmed Malik stated this,
while addressing a press conference.
He said that the metropolis with a teeming
populace of over 14 million needed about 150,000
tonnes of wheat per month to keep the flour prices
at a reasonable level.
The flour mills in Karachi received wheat from
Sindh Food Department and the open market. During
2000 to September 2003 abundant wheat stocks were
available in the open market at the government
fixed rates, he said.
However, he said that since the Food Department
had stopped wheat releases to the flour mills,
Karachi fell totally dependent upon wheat arrivals
from the interior Sindh and Punjab.
He alleged that the Food Department, being
reluctant to the free movement of wheat from
interior Sindh, left no stone unturned to restrict
its arrivals from interior Sindh resulting in
sharp increase in the prices of flour.
On the other hand, he said that now since, April
21, 2004, Punjab Food Department had also imposed
inter-district and inter-provincial ban on the
movement of wheat, which was in contravention of
the free trade policy formed by the federal
government.
He reiterated that the decision taken by the
Punjab government had adverse effects and created
instability in the market, resulting in soaring of
flour prices.
He rejected the allegations of hoarding of wheat
on the part of mill owners and termed the action
of Punjab government morally and legally wrong.
He said that if the government was not able to
provide wheat to the flour mills at the official
rates, it had no right to notify official rates
for flour also. Other representatives of the
association who were also present on the occasion
included Khalid Masood and Arif Jamali.
Courtesy Business Recorder |
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Pakissan.com; Advisory Point
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