The Sindh cabinet is expected to finalise the price of subsidised wheat before October 10, while the price of issue for flour mills will be announced between October 15 and 20. During a meeting early this week, the cabinet discussed the issue price of wheat stored in various government godowns and was informed that Balochistan had fixed the price of wheat at Rs4,100 per 100 kilogrammes, while Punjab had fixed it at Rs3,687 per 100kg. According to sources in the Sindh Food Department, the cabinet will make its decision about the price by October 10 and will announce it in the third week of October. The sources claimed that subsidised wheat would not be provided to defaulters or flour mills that had opted for a plea bargain with the National Accountability Bureau. As per the wheat release policy, they explained, wheat will only be issued to licenced and functional flour mills based on their allocation quota. With the governmental issue of wheat still awaited, the open market price of wheat has risen to as much as Rs5,100 per 100kg in the province. Once the subsidised price is announced and wheat subsequently issued to flour mills, however, the prices of wheat products, including flour, are expected to go down, sources elaborated.
