LAHORE: Central Chairman Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) Badrudin Kakar has asked the Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif to order an independent survey to assess ground realities for herself regarding flour prices in different cities of the province. He alleged official claims were far from actual market conditions.
In a statement issued on Monday, he said soaring inflation had made it extremely difficult for low-income households to arrange two meals a day while alarming increases in flour prices had been recorded across several districts of the province.
According to him, although the Punjab government officials claim that flour is being sold at Rs 90 per kilogram, equivalent to Rs 1,800 for a 20-kg bag, market prices tell a different story. In Lahore, flour is currently being sold at Rs 120 per kilogram with a 15-kg bag priced at Rs 1,800. Prices are even higher in other cities: Rs 135 per kilogram in Gujranwala and Faisalabad, and Rs 140 per kilogram in Rawalpindi, where a 20-kg bag costs around Rs2,100.
In many other cities of Punjab, consumers are being forced to buy flour at rates ranging between Rs135 and Rs140 per kilogram, while the price of a 15-kg bag has surged to between Rs2,025 and Rs2,100.
Badruddin Kakar pointed out that except for Lahore, flour at official rates has virtually disappeared from most cities. He added that instead of 20-kg bags, millers and retailers are selling 15-kg bags, further burdening consumers.
He demanded the immediate lifting of restrictions on inter-provincial movement of flour and called for the issuance of a uniform wheat quota across Punjab to stabilize prices.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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