LAHORE: Punjab’s food department said 471,319 bags of flour reached markets across the province on Oct 13, but the breakdown it released adds up to 428,506 bags, leaving some 42,800 bags unaccounted for in the official tally.
Director General Food Amjad Hafeez said 225,525 bags of 10kg flour milled from government wheat were supplied, along with 160,168 bags of 10kg flour and 42,813 bags of 20kg flour made from privately procured wheat. The difference between the stated total and the sum of those categories is almost exactly the 20kg figure, suggesting it was counted twice or that a category was left out.
Even the higher figure marks a sharp fall from late August, when the department reported 760,671 bags supplied in a single day.
Hafeez said there was no shortage of flour in Punjab, that all mills were grinding government wheat as usual, and that a 10kg bag made from government wheat was selling at the fixed price of Rs1,100, or Rs110 a kilogram.
Flour made from private wheat sells at market rates. In August, prices climbed to around Rs137 a kilogram in the open market, a gap that shapes what households pay and what tandoors charge. In Lahore, a naan currently costs about Rs30 and a roti about Rs20.
The DG said the crackdown on hoarders and profiteers would continue, and that the food department and other authorities were monitoring markets to keep flour available at affordable prices.
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