LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar says the provincial government's effective and timely measures stabilised prices of wheat and flour in the province.

In a statement on Sunday, he said Punjab is the only province where a wheat flour bag weighing 20 kg is being sold at official rates. He vowed to keep on taking such steps in future to ensure stability in prices of essential commodities.

Being the province's chief executive, it is his responsibility to protect rights of people of the province, CM Usman Buzdar maintained, pledging to not let anyone exploit public. He issued directives for district administration to continue monitoring prices of kitchen items. The chief minister said all relevant departments have been mobilised to provide relief to the masses.

On July 27, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the authorities concerned to ensure uniform prices of wheat and flour across the country. Presiding over a meeting on availability of flour and sugar and their prices in the country, PM Imran directed all the chief secretaries to adopt a joint strategy with mutual consultations to ensure uniform prices of the commodities in the country. He ordered to accelerate crackdown against the elements involved in hoarding and ensure provision of flour and sugar at reasonable rates across the country. He said the process of importing wheat at official level besides by the private sector should be accelerated to ensure profuse availability of wheat in the market.