Masses facing destructive power of mafia

ISLAMABAD, October 25 (Online): Former President ICCI Shahid Rasheed Butt on Sunday said masses are facing devastating power of high inflation as all efforts to keep the economy on a disinflationary path have failed.

In such a serious situation, some elements are intentionally pushing country into a severe food crisis which should be noticed and thwarted.

Hesitancy by the authorities to fix wheat support price will compound the flour crisis in the country pushing millions more into abject poverty, he said

The masses may experience a famine-like situation if mismanagement continues in the most important wheat sector, he added.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said that responsible institutions should intervene to improve food security.

He said that authorities unnecessarily delayed wheat imports and now they are reluctant to announce wheat support price despite the beginning of the sowing season in some parts of the country.

Indecisiveness is making farmers nervous which can have disastrous consequences, he said, adding that a review in the wheat support price is the only option to stabilise the prices.

The government wants to purchase wheat at the old price of Rs1400 per 40 kg while the cost of the wheat crop has jumped to Rs1650 per 40kg.

If the government wants to keep inflation in check then it should provide a real subsidy on urea which covers twenty percent cost of crop and reduce taxes on other inputs which will bring the price of wheat and flour down.

The business leader noted that per acre yield of wheat is dismally low as compared to regional countries at 25 to 26 maund per acre due to lack of interest on the part of policymakers.