ISLAMABAD: The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) on Monday showed concern over higher wheat flour price in Sindh compared to the other three provinces and sought details from the provincial government in this regard.

The NPMC meeting — chaired by Minister for Finance Hammad Azhar — also sought details from all the four provinces regarding wheat procurement targets and prevailing market prices while reviewing the overall prices of flour in the country.

The committee was informed that 20kg wheat flour bag is being sold to consumers at Rs1,200 in Karachi and Rs1,230 in Hyderabad which is significantly higher than prices in other provinces. A 20kg flour bag costs Rs964 in Peshawar (Khyber Pakhtun­­­khwa), Rs960 in Quetta (Balochistan), Rs864 in Islamabad and Rs860 in Lahore (Punjab).

Mr Azhar specifically asked the representative of the Sindh government to explain why prices were higher in the province and what measures had been taken to control rising prices of wheat flour.

The Sindh government representative said that the higher procurement price set by the province at the rate of Rs2,000 per 40kg was the reason for higher flour prices in Sindh as compared to other provinces. The representative added that no effective price control strategy had yet been formulated in the province.

Updating the committee, the Punjab government said that 313 “Ramazan Sahulat Bazaars” have been established to provide maximum relief to the consumers by offering basic commodities at discounted prices in the holy month.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2021