LAHORE, March 9: The availability of flour improved further on Tuesday, but the price remained high despite raids by the city district government. The price of a 20kg flour bag continued to range from Rs220 to Rs225 against the official Rs215 to Rs220. In some posh localities, it even touched Rs230 and Rs235.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Food Department has reduced wheat releases from 20,000 tons a day to 15,000 tons, and it plans to maintain the supply at this level till the end of the current season on April 15. By doing so, the department hopes to meet the demand in the current season.

About stocks' position, Punjab Director (Food) Jawad Rafiq said the department still had 620,000 tons, which should be sufficient for the remaining 35 days of the season. The department had recently checked the situation on the ground, counter-checked its figures and found them correct, he said.

He also claimed that Punjab had started asking Sindh to return 50,000 tons of wheat that the latter borrowed two months back to meet a flour crisis. Sindh should soon be in a position to return wheat to Punjab as its new crop has started arriving in the market.

The Sindh food secretary is due in Punjab in the next days, and the matter will be resolved. Even if wheat does not arrive from Sindh, Punjab has sufficient wheat to meet its requirements, he claimed.

With the arrival of new crop in Sindh, the pressure on Punjab wheat should ease a bit, an official of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association maintained.

Though the pace of procurement was very slow, it should have a corresponding effect on the supply and price situation in Punjab. The price was not expected to come down, but the rising trend would certainly be curtailed by a healthy supply, he claimed.