Increase in electricity tariff and imposition of 0.2 per cent turnover tax has pushed the prices of 20 kg wheat flour bag by Rs20 to Rs560 per bag.
Former Chairman of All Pakistan Flour Millers Association (APFMA) Bilal Sufi told Pakistan Today that the flour mills would be depositing Rs3.5 per bag in tax. A 20 kg bag was previously available at Rs540 but from the start of new fiscal year the price has gone up to Rs560. A 40 kilogram bag of flour is now being sold at Rs1,120. Similarly, the price of 80 kilogram bag has risen by Rs80.
The 80 kg bag which was earlier available in the market at a rate of Rs2,160 is now available in the market for Rs2,240. “The price of 80 kg bag of flour would further increase to Rs2,350,” Bilal Sufi said. He explained that the buying of wheat by middlemen from farmers in Sindh and Punjab has also put pressure on wheat prices. He added that dealers of wheat were hording as demand from international market was on the rise.
“However,” he said, “the export of flour was not increasing prices in the domestic market as wheat prices are going down in the international market”. The release price of wheat from the government stocks is expected to remain lower than Rs1000 per 40 kilogram.
The prices of chakki flour, which is utilized by the opulent segments of the urban population, is likely to increase to Rs35 per kilogram Rs32 per kilogram.
