Pakistan Flour Mills Association on Tuesday demanded an immediate and complete ban on export of wheat for next two months to stabilise its prices in the domestic market. Addressing a press conference here, PFMA Chairman Chaudhry Ansar Javed said wheat exporters are procuring huge quantity of the commodity from open market for export purposes and it has resulted in massive increase in wheat grain prices.
New wheat crop has already arrived in the market and the government is expecting a wheat production of 25 million tons, which will be confirmed in next two months, he added. However, despite arrival of new wheat crop, uncertainty is prevailing in the market and wheat prices are on increase for last two weeks, he said and added that "this is because of hasty buying of the commodity by exporters."
The Sindh government is also facing difficulties in procuring wheat as strategic reserves due to higher rate in the market. The federal government has announced a wheat support price of Rs 1,200 per maund, while presently the commodity is not available at this rate, Ansar said. "In the current scenario, while wheat prices are on increase, we demand a complete ban on wheat export till the confirmation of actual wheat production statistics," he said.
The government should also ban procurement of wheat by private sector, which is busy in hoarding of the commodity, he added. "If the government could not take these steps, masses will directly suffer and will be compelled to buy the commodity at exorbitant rates," he warned.