Flour export ban

In what appears to be another reactionary measure, the government has banned the export of flour made from imported wheat amid a strike by the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA). Across the country, more than 1,800 flour mills have shut operations to protest tax measures that they claim would increase their burden as they would have to work as FBR’s tax agents and collect advance tax from retailers who are non-filers. Extra taxes were also imposed on the flour mills, leading to an increase in price. At a time of economic uncertainty, the government’s new measures have put food security into question as the lack of flour supply could have far-reaching repercussions for the general populace who are already frustrated and over-burdened with taxes.

Simultaneously, the government has also banned the import of wheat. In a free-market economy, it is the forces of supply and demand that need to determine the price of a commodity in the local market. For decades, the policy of minimum support price for wheat has ensured that only the mill owners, middlemen and the large bureaucracy linked to agriculture reap the benefit and not the general public. The policy has also led to a lack of innovation in the agriculture industry as farmers and landowners do not invest in new technology or better seeds as their incomes are guaranteed. Such policies need to be done away with to ensure competitiveness in the sector and to benefit the consumer, as a higher supply would lead to lower prices in the local market.

The government, at the same time, also needs to improve upon reporting mechanisms at provincial agricultural departments and the federal food ministry so as to ensure food security all the time. Better policymaking is the need of the hour, as knee-jerk reactions will not benefit the common man or the country in the long term.