Pakistan's Punjab witnessing shortage of 1 million tonne wheat: Report

Pakistan's Punjab province is witnessing a shortage of about a million tonne of wheat in its stock after completion of the procurement drive, local media reported.

The province had procured nearly 3.8 million tonnes till the end of the official buying drive on June 15.

With this, the provincial government is short of about a million tons at least in its reserves even if approximately 1.5 million tons are available with flour mills, Pakistan's News International reported on Saturday.

The Punjab Food Department issued a notification for tightening its grip on the supply of wheat and its products with a watchful eye on the price of flour, which is a politically sensitive commodity.

"Atta bag price shall be notified immediately. Till the atta price is communicated by the food department, all DCs to hold meeting with flour mills associations of their respective district to ensure supply and availability of atta at reasonable prices," it said.

In April, it was reported that the Pakistan government has decided to import four million metric tons of wheat this year to meet the domestic consumption requirements.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin had asked the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to change its price methodology as he believed that the prices of essential commodities were over-reported, officials of the Ministry of Finance and PBS said.

( With inputs from ANI )