ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: A difference of 43 per cent between the prices of flour in Pakistan and Afghanistan has thwarted the government’s efforts to stop smuggling to the neighbouring country and intensified the crisis at home with prices rising on the eve of Ramazan.

According to sources, a sub-committee of the recently-constituted Task Force on Food, Procurement, Storage and Distribution has cited the smuggling to Afghanistan, Iran and India as the main reason for flour shortage which may cause a crisis during Ramazan.

The sources said that the sub-committee, headed by Let Gen (retd) Farooq Ahmed Khan, submitted its recommendations to the task force on Monday. It also pointed out that hoarding and absence of an efficient plan for upcountry transportation of imported wheat from Karachi ports could also result in a price hike during Ramazan.

An official of the federal ministry for food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal) told Dawn he feared that the price of a 20 kg flour bag might touch Rs500 during the holy month in Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan, an increase of Rs50 to 60.

He said that during the last season, smugglers with the support of a number of parliamentarians and ministers had pocketed around Rs6 billion to Rs8 billion through illegal export of flour to Afghanistan that exceeded 2 million tons at a time when the country was suffering from an acute wheat shortage. He said the task force had no intention of revealing the names of the parliamentarians and ministers or taking action against them.

Insiders say that the exchange rate coupled with higher prices in India and Afghanistan is another reason for hoarding and smuggling of wheat and flour.

The Minfal official said the worst victims of smuggling were the people of the NWFP and the tribal areas. Some tribes and even people in the NWFP have appealed to the Taliban to stop the smuggling.