Pakistan Flour Mills Association Welcomes Wheat Policy 2025 but Raises Concerns Over Implementation

Strategic Insights -

Pakistan Flour Mills Association's (PFMA) Central Chairman Badruddin Kakar has expressed mixed sentiments over the newly announced Wheat Policy 2025, welcoming its intentions but expressing serious reservations regarding its implementation. The policy, announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, aims to deregulate the wheat and flour market, promote free trade, and establish an open market mechanism. However, the Punjab government's recent actions, including arbitrary price-fixing and restrictions on inter-provincial transportation of wheat and flour, have raised concerns among PFMA officials.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) has termed the federal government's Wheat Policy 2025 a welcome development for the country's agriculture and flour milling sectors.
  • The policy aims to deregulate the wheat and flour market, promote free trade, and establish an open market mechanism.
  • PFMA's Central Chairman Badruddin Kakar has expressed serious reservations regarding the implementation of the policy, citing contradictory actions by the Punjab government.
  • The Punjab government's arbitrary price-fixing and restrictions on inter-provincial transportation of wheat and flour directly violate the spirit of the federal policy and Article 151 of the Constitution.
  • PFMA has called for immediate clarification from the Punjab government on its implementation rules and urged the Prime Minister and the federal minister for food security to intervene personally.
  • The association emphasizes the need for administrative decisions to be taken at the grassroots level to ensure the policy delivers its intended benefits to the people, farmers, and industry.

Statistics:

  • The Punjab government's arbitrary price-fixing has raised concerns among PFMA officials, who fear it may undermine the policy's intended benefits.
  • The Wheat Policy 2025 aims to promote free trade and establish an open market mechanism in the country's wheat and flour industry.
  • Pakistan is the world's five-largest wheat producer, accounting for around 25-30% of total wheat production in the country.

Sources:

  • "Lahore -- Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) has termed the federal government's newly announced Wheat Policy 2025 a welcome development for the country's agriculture and flour milling sectors. PFMA's Central Chairman Badruddin Kakar said here Saturday that the national wheat policy, announced by PM Shehbaz Sharif and supported by federal ministers for food security and finance..."