Wheat flour, bread prices skyrocket

Bakers say they are forced to increase prices due to increased costs of food, energy

The province of Balochistan which was severely hit by floods last year is now facing a severe wheat crisis.

The price of wheat flour has reached a record high, increasing nearly 80 per cent from a year ago, making the staple food unaffordable for many Pakistanis.

Food inflation is at an alltime high in Pakistan. The prices of vegetables, meat, dairy products, and bread have skyrocketed as the purchasing power of the people continues to shrink amid an ongoing economic crisis in the country of 220 million. The weekly food inflation jumped by nearly 31 per cent compared to last year, according to the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) released by the government. The price index for the week ending on January 5, recorded a 82.5 per cent rise in the price of chicken and a 50 per cent hike in eggs.

Wheat price hike

With the new hike, the price of wheat flour is now around Rs160 per kilogram which is a significant increase since wheat flour is the country’s most essential staple food used to make roti and naan that most Pakistanis eat with every meal. The price of 5kg and 10kg flour bags have almost doubled from a year ago. The current wheat flour prices in major cities of Sindh and Punjab were reportedly the same at approximately Rs160 per kg. However, regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed an additional increase as the price of a 20-kg wheat flour bag topped Rs3,000 in Kohat.

Bakers increase prices

As food inflation continues to flare, few things cause more concern than the cost of a roti. The price of the staple naan has been increased up to Rs30 and roti to Rs25 in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, local shopkeepers confirmed. Bakers say they were forced to increase their prices and some had to cut their production due to the steep rise in flour prices, as well as high electricity costs and energy shortages. “The situation is very worrisome. Food prices are brutally high even for middle class buyers. The poor people cannot afford to pay more,” said Amjad Hussain, a resident of Islamabad.

The province of Balochistan which was severely hit by floods last year is now facing a severe wheat crisis.

The provincial food minister Zamarak Khan appealed to federal as well as Sindh and Punjab provincial governments to send wheat bags as the food department had run out of its wheat stock. “We are facing an acute crisis and urgently need 600,000 bags of wheat on an emergency basis,” he said.