The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) has urged upon the  Punjab government to revise the wheat support price from Rs 3000 to Rs3,900 per mound for the upcoming  procurement season of 2023. According to detail, PBF Vice President, Chaudhry Ahmad Jawad said that uniformity in wheat support price can eliminate market distortion, so the provincial cabinet must make the timely decision to revise the support price rate.

He said that after the Sindh government’s decision to raise the price of wheat to Rs4,000 per mound,  an upward revision of the support price in Punjab is inevitable. He said the difference of Rs. 1000 of wheat price between Punjab and Sindh has increased  wheat smuggling from Punjab to Sindh. Last year the grain market remained stable due to the uniform price of Rs2,200 per mound in Punjab and Sindh.

He also stated that the cost of production minus profit for wheat cultivation in Punjab is Rs2,965 per 40kg. He said that raising the wheat support price from Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 would help local farmers to compete globally and they would get a good price for their production.

He said "We have evaluated import price estimates and determined that a price of Rs4,000 per mound would be competitive globally and regionally."  PBF official stated that the provincial government should manage the situation in a coordinated manner to ensure that deserving consumers do not face a price increase for wheat at any time in the interest of consumers. A package of targeted subsidy program could be implemented for this purpose to alleviate inflationary pressure on vulnerable consumers.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP