KARACHI, July 20: Price of 100 kg wheat bag, which had declined to Rs1,125 per bag on Friday from Rs1,200 after a decision of allowing inter-provincial wheat movement, has again started climbing up due to delay in issuance of notification by the Punjab government.

The 100 kg wheat bag price again surged to Rs1,200 on Tuesday from Rs1,125. As a result, prices of various flour varieties remained pegged to their previous levels, and confusion continued to grip the markets over the dilly-dallying of Punjab government in issuing notification.

"The notification has not been issued as yet," the chairman, Karachi Wholesale Grocers Association (KWGA), Anis Majeed told Dawn on Tuesday. He said the market sentiments could be gauged from the fact that the prices had caved as soon as Prime Minister, Ch Shujaat Hussain had intervened by instructing Punjab government to lift ban on the movement of wheat.

However, till Tuesday the markets continued to wait for the notification and as a result wheat bag rates were started reaching to previous levels. He said that if the notification was issued and wheat movement from Punjab commenced, the price of wheat bag would fall to Rs 1,000-1,100 and the atta rates would range between Rs11-12 from Rs14-15 per kg.

Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), on July 14, had decided to go on country-wide strike from July 20 if the ban on inter-provincial movement of wheat was not lifted by the Punjab government.

On July 15, the federal government decided to lift ban on the wheat movement. The decision came after PFMA members meeting with prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

However, a government official after the meeting had claimed that the government had not lifted the ban on any pressure from PFMA but it was taken to improve supply of wheat, price parity in all the provinces and stabilize the domestic market.

There is no effective consumer body in Pakistan which can take up the price hike issue with the government. Some people have set up various consumer related bodies but it has failed to become the voice of people and their voice is limited to their offices.

On the other hand the government is least bothered about the plight of consumers. It appears that the consumers are still not worried over the skyrocketing atta prices as well as price-hike in its by products like bread, nan, rusk, bun, sheermal, taftan, etc.

Consumers are happy to pay higher prices instead of raising any concerns on the rising prices in atta. The vice-chairman PFMA, Sindh Circle, Naeem Ahmed Khan Malik told Dawn on Tuesday that the notification regarding wheat movement had not been issued yet despite Prime Minister's intervention.

He said that there is hardly 100,000 tons wheat left in the open market, while the Sindh Food Department has left with only 180,000 tons. Out of 80 flour mills in Sindh, the running 70 mills currently have hardly 25,000-30,000 tons wheat in their hand as majority of millers have stopped lifting wheat from the market due to increase in prices, he said.

He said not only Sindh is starved of wheat, flour millers in other provinces, except for Punjab, are at the mercy of wheat supply from Punjab. Naeem said that the federal government has to take the notice of the delay in issuing notification by Punjab government otherwise market situation would get worse.