QUETTA: Flour crisis continues to affect Balochistan as flour is being sold between Rs125 to 130 per kilogram across the province.
While the product was not readily available in the majority of stores around the province, flour costs have risen in Quetta and other areas of Balochistan.
A bag of 20 kg of flour now costs Rs2,500. A 50-kg bag of flour was being offered in the neighborhood market for between Rs6,500 and 6,500.
The provincial government is unable to keep the price of flour from skyrocketing.
Earlier on September 13, flour mill owners blamed the provincial government for the ongoing flour crisis in the province, alleging that the food department failed to procure wheat according to the requirement for this year.
Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) Balochistan chapter representatives said there was a huge gap between the demand and supply which created the crisis.
They said flour mill owners were being blamed for the crisis, while in reality, the provincial government has imposed an inter-provincial and inter-district ban on the transportation of wheat during the harvesting season.
It is worth mentioning that flour prices in Karachi have reached a new high of Rs2500 per 20-kilogram bag, up from Rs2,400 last week, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Saturday.
This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that flour prices have surged to Rs2500.
One kilogram of flour now costs Rs125 in Karachi, according to the Sensitive Price Index for the week ending December 22. This is approximately 100% more than what it costs in Islamabad and Punjab.
According to the data, the cost of a 20kg bag of flour increased by Rs100 in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Quetta over the last week, bringing the prices to Rs2,500, Rs2,420, and Rs2,320, respectively.
The price increases were Rs.40, Rs.70, Rs. 50, and Rs. 40 in Bannu, Peshawar, Larkana, and Sukkur, respectively.
In the meantime, a 20-kilogram bag of flour has been priced at Rs 1,295 in Punjab and Islamabad.
