December 16, 2016
Chairman Businessmen Panel and Pakistan Business Group Alliance of FPCCI and Former Provincial Minister Mian Zahid Hussain, Presidential Candidate Abdul Rahim Janoo, Candidate for SVP Mian Anjum Nisar for FPCCI Elections 2017 on Friday lauded the government for keeping support price for wheat unchanged terming it in the best interest of the masses.
The decision will help to keep price of roti unchanged and keep inflation under control, they said.
They said that the support price for wheat is Rs 1300 per 40 kg which is almost double than the wheat available in the international market. The masses should not be made to pay double price for staple in the name of interests of farming community, they said.
The business leaders said that government has fixed wheat output target at 26.01 million tonnes despite the fact that around three million tonnes of surplus wheat is rotting in the godowns.
They said that ECC has not only allowed export of nine million tonnes of wheat but also extended export date from Nov 30 to Dec 31 but it will not improve exports as the wheat at home costs almost double than the international market.
The Federal and Provincial governments has announced a subsidy on the export of wheat amounting to 90 dollars per tonne but it failed to push exports.
They said that insufficient storage facilities, faulty methods, climate impact etc. is set to damage a large quantity of surplus wheat while government will continue to pay heavy interest to the banks.
