Flour crisis looms as mills begin strike
A wheat flour crisis looms large as flour mills start an indefinite strike against the imposition of withholding and other taxes. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has firmly refused to withdraw these levies.
On the call of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), mills began their shutter-down strike in the morning, stopping the supply of this staple food across the country. Over 250 mills in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have also shut their doors.
The strike has sown fears of a food crisis in the days to come. In Lahore, representatives of the flour mills and senior FBR officials held online talks, but nothing concrete emerged as the FBR declined to rescind the taxes.
Senior Central Vice Chairman of PFMA Chaudhary Amir Abdullah said all the 1,600 flour mills nationwide had already suspended pre-grinding operations on Wednesday morning and now they had stopped grinding wheat from Thursday morning.
The PFMA had given the strike call for an indefinite period on July 6 after the talks between its representatives with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and other high officials failed to produce any result.
They had given five days to the government to withdraw the taxes and reverse its decision making flour mills the tax collection agents, Abdullah told The Express Tribune. No government officials have contacted any office-bearers [of the PFMA] since the collapse of the talks held before July 6, he added.
The governments rigid behaviour has led the flour millers to go on strike as per their pre-defined schedule, Abdullah said. He added that the shutter-down strike would continue nationwide until their demands were met.
The government has imposed a 5.5% withholding tax (WHT) on flour mills from July 1, 2024 and 2.5% tax on the sale of flour to wholesalers and retailers.