Experts suggest wheat import to discourage hoarding

Experts suggest wheat import to discourage hoarding

KARACHI: The government should allow the import of wheat in order to discourage hoarding and check price hikes in the local market, commodity experts said on Saturday.

The prices of wheat flour witnessed a sharp increase during past couple of days.

Interestingly, the wheat crop in the last season was surplus yet there is a sharp increase in the prices of wheat flour.

The latest prices of wheat shot in between Rs55 and Rs58 for one kilogram. Whereas, after making to wheat flour the prices are in between Rs68 and Rs70 in the local market.

Commodity expert Shamsul Islam Khan said that wheat prices were on the lower side in international markets.

At present wheat is $215 per ton in the international market. In case of import of the commodity after including all costs the price of imported wheat in the local wheat would be around Rs40 per kilogram.

The expert said it was surprising for a country having surplus wheat crop but still facing significant price hike.

It is only due to hoarding by profiteers.

The provincial governments are blamed for this hoarding because they had failed to buy surplus stock of wheat.

The shortest possible solution for discourage hoarding, the expert said, the country should import the commodity.