Central traders and bakers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi warned that surging flour prices have made it impossible to sell bread at government-fixed rates and threatened a nationwide shutter-down strike unless federal and provincial authorities ensure affordable flour supplies within ten days.
Kashif Chaudhry, president of the Central Traders’ Organization of Pakistan, raised the alarm at a press conference at the National Press Club in Islamabad alongside leaders of the Central Insaaf Nanbai Association Rawalpindi and the General Nanbai Association Islamabad. He said mill owners and dealers are pushing up prices while enforcement action focuses only on bakers, leaving bakeries unable to meet mandated retail prices.
Chaudhry said flour prices have jumped about 70 percent in the past two weeks. He said two maunds of flour are currently selling for over 9,000 rupees in the market and that the price of a sack of flour has risen by 3,000 to 4,000 rupees. Under those conditions, he argued, bakeries cannot sell bread at the government-fixed rates.
He criticised what he called a failure by authorities to control mill owners and dealers, and accused administration, paramilitary forces and magistrates of imposing fines and crackdowns primarily on the baking community. He asked how bakers could be expected to sell cheap bread if they are forced to buy expensive flour, and said it is the government’s responsibility to ensure supply at the fixed rate.
Chaudhry warned that bread cannot be sold for less than 25 rupees under current market conditions. He said the bakeries do not want to deprive the public of bread, but if federal and provincial governments do not resolve the supply and pricing issues within ten days and harassment continues, they will announce further action — including a possible nationwide shutter-down strike.
The traders’ group demanded immediate intervention to stabilize flour supplies and prices and to hold mill owners and dealers accountable for the increases. They urged the government to enforce the law uniformly so that responsibility is shared across the supply chain rather than placed solely on bakers.
