KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan and President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain has said increasing inflation and unemployment is intensifying the issue of food security and nutrition.

Masses deserve affordable bread therefore additional taxes should not be slapped on the flour mills but existing taxes should be waived and electricity should be provided to them on discount rates, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that a four hundred percent hike in income tax and seventeen percent sales tax on bran has been proposed in the budget which has triggered concern across the country.

He said that the decision will hurt the 1700 flour mills operating in the country while the price of flour was estimated to jump Rs5 per kg but the prices are rising before the implementation of the proposals.

Wheat is disappearing from the market while prices have jumped from Rs20 to Rs30 in different cities which speaks of weakness of the administration.

He said that Pakistan is among the countries with one of the highest per capita flour consumption which is 124 kg while total consumption is 28.5 million tonnes.

The expected rise in price will burden masses by Rs1.5 trillion which is beyond their affordability, he said.

He noted that a small clarification has appeared in the press which isn’t enough to allay the concerns of stakeholders therefore top government functionaries should clarify the position before the countrywide strike by the disgruntled millers which will irritate masses.

A proper clarification may dishearten hoarders to bring price stability in the market, he said, adding that government has recently decided to import three million tonnes of wheat which is recipe for disaster therefore a minimum quantity of four million tonnes should be imported.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021