Govt claims fall in flour price
Finance adviser directed provincial governments and all other authorities concerned to take immediate measures to control increase in prices. PHOTO: FILE
The federal government on Monday said prices of wheat flour went down last week but the acclaimed reduction was a meagre 16 paisa per kg and the commodity was also not available at the officially quoted average rate of Rs49.
The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) reviewed the price trend of essential commodities mainly wheat flour, sugar, tomatoes, onions, vegetable ghee, potatoes and chicken on a weekly basis, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance after the meeting. Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh heads the NPMC and all important economic ministries and departments are its members.
“The finance secretary while presenting the price trend of essential commodities informed the meeting that according to the latest Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, there is a decline in prices of wheat flour, sugar and onion while prices of tomatoes, potatoes and chicken increased slightly,” said the finance ministry.
However, as per the PBS, the wheat flour price declined by 0.31% or 16 paisa per kg on a weekly basis. The official average wheat flour price was Rs49 per kg during the last week, down from Rs49.16, according to the PBS.
However, the wheat flour at this rate was not available anywhere in Pakistan, except at the Utility Stores Corporation that caters to a very low number of consumers and the quality is not very good. PBS data put the wheat flour price at Rs43 per kg in Islamabad but it was available at Rs75 to Rs80 per kg in the retail market, showing a huge gap between rates claimed by the government and actual prices that the consumers were paying. The maximum official wheat flour price was Rs68 in Peshawar.
Moreover, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government does not know how much wheat and its products were exported in fiscal year 2018-19, which became the cause for the current wheat crisis.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs claimed that 590,000 tons of wheat was exported, the PBS data put the figure at nearly 684,000 tons and the wheat inquiry commission constituted by the prime minister put the export of wheat and its products at 1.36 million tons.
Due to excessive exports of wheat and its products, wheat in the retail market was sold at over Rs2,200 per 40 kg against the government procurement price of Rs1,400. The federal government exported 5.5 million tons of wheat and its products from 2015 to 2020.
PBS data revealed that the average price of sugar in the country stood at Rs99 per kg, showing a decline of Rs3 or 2.97% on a weekly basis. But sugar prices were still higher by 36.2% as compared to the same period of last year.
The prices of onion decreased by almost 5%. The Finance Ministry stated that the prices of vegetable ghee remained unchanged during the last week. The committee was also informed about the price variation among the provinces and the profit margin between wholesale and the retail.
The NPMC is a monitoring and coordination body that does not have any legal mandate to enforce its directions.
Furthermore, the PBS data showed that chilli powder prices increased 86.3% last week compared to the price last year, potatoes rates jumped 72.7% during the week ended on Friday over the same period of last year and the eggs by almost 54%.
The Finance Ministry stated that Abdul Hafeez Shaikh also held a detailed discussion with the provincial chief secretaries regarding the position of wheat and sugar stocks in the provinces.
The NPMC was briefed that sufficient quantities are available across the country, said the Finance Ministry.
Adviser Finance directed the provincial governments and all other concerned authorities to take immediate proactive measures to control an increase in prices, the handout added. During the meeting, Adviser Finance urged the representatives of the provincial governments to strictly monitor the difference between retail and wholesale prices in various commodities to ensure availability of the essential items for the consumers at affordable price.
Similar remarks had also been passed on during the last NPMC meeting but nothing on the ground changed.
The chief secretary Sindh informed that wheat flour and sugar prices have declined in the province which will further stabilise in coming weeks, stated the Finance Ministry.
He also briefed that the Sindh government has established fair price shops to provide relief to the general public. However, the chicken prices were slightly increasing and they were taking corrective measures accordingly.
Additional Chief Secretary Punjab informed during the meeting that the prices of tomatoes were fluctuating due to seasonal factors but it would stabilise in the coming weeks. Punjab and the Sindh governments also briefed about the new crushing season of sugarcane and underlined that the price of sugar would further reduce due to availability of the local produce in the coming months.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2020.
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