ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Marriyum Aurangzeb Monday said the government is giving a subsidy of Rs3 billion to provide ghee to masses at reduced rates.

Addressing a press conference, she said after the flour scheme, the prime minister has started ghee scheme at a low rate in the country.

In 2018, the price of flour in Pakistan was Rs35 per kg. In the last four years, the price of flour has gone up from Rs35 per kg to Rs90 to Rs100 per kg, she said.

Flour quality was also compromised across the country including at the Utility Stores, the minister further said.

She said flour was smuggled, first exported, then imported, thus, the price was increased and similarly, sugar was also exported first and then imported, and its price also increased.

While talking about the subsidy, she said the price of ghee in the open market is Rs550 per kilogramme while it is being provided at the rate of Rs300 per kilogram through the Utility Stores Corporation. This accounts for a subsidy of Rs250 on each kilogram of ghee.

The minister for information said a flour bag of 10 kilogramme is also being provided at a reduced rate of Rs400 through the Utility Stores. She said the flour is available at the same rate in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as per the promise made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

She said 100 mobile units and 600 stationary sale points have been added to the system in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in order to ensure the availability of wheat flour to the masses in the province.

Aurangzeb said that price control committees have also been constituted. She said steps are being taken to check hoarding and smuggling of the essential commodities. The information minister said Rs17 billion have been earmarked in the budget for the provision of inexpensive ghee, flour, and sugar to the people in the next fiscal year.

Alluding to the failures of the PTI government, she said the present government is taking steps to take the economy towards stability.

A package has been announced in the budget for the agriculture sector.

She said the government has taken practical steps to provide relief to the masses.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022