KARACHI: Flour mills on Thursday started nationwide strike for an unidentified period against the impositions of 5 percent withholding tax.

Aamir Abdullah Chairman Pakistan Four Mills Association (PFMA) said the government in the budget has imposed a unjustified withholding tax on the flour mills with effect from July 1, 2024. He said the government has imposed this tax without consultation of the industry stakeholders. “We are already in the tax net and mills are not in condition to bear more tax burden,” he added.

Flour mills, before starting the strike, tried to contact the government officials and authorities concerned since July 3, but to no avail, he maintained.

Flour millers announce nationwide shutdown

“We have started the countrywide strike from Thursday for an unidentified period till the acceptance of our demands,” Abdullah said. Overall, 2,000 flour including 250 mills of Sindh have completely shut their operations against the imposition of withholding tax, he added.

Flour and wheat products delivery has come to standstill across the country, he added.

He said that flour mills of entire Pakistan are united and stood together. Abdullah said the government’s move increase the price of an essential food item, ie, flour which has become cheap after many years. After the strike, there is fear of flour crisis increased in Karachi and other parts of the country.

“Yesterday, we stopped the washing of wheat and today (Thursday) flour mills stopped wheat milling,” he added

More than one hundred flour mills of Karachi supplies 70 to 80 bags of wheat flour daily in Karachi, he said and added that due to the closure of flour millers, supply of flour to bread factories and hotels has also been suspended.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024