The government of Sindh on Friday lifted ban on wheat movement in the province. The ban was lifted after a meeting between representatives of Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) and Sindh Food Minister Nadir Magsi The minister allowed flourmills to procure wheat as per their requirements from anywhere in the country and there was no restriction on the movement of wheat to their units.
The flourmills association had demanded free movement of wheat as the country enjoys sufficient stock of wheat, enough to meet the country's requirement. The mills noted that there was no justification in the ban on inter-district movement of wheat as the total production of wheat was estimated at 24 million tons whereas the domestic consumption was around 22 million tons. After lifting of ban on wheat movement, the PFMA called off the strike.
Earlier, after the imposition of ban, flourmills in Sindh went on three-day strike and demanded of the authorities to immediately lift ban. The flourmill owners claimed that they had only one day's wheat stock in hand. They said due to better supply of wheat, flour price has decreased from 1,650 per 50-kg to Rs 1,425 per 50-kg in last one month.