Maryam Nawaz approves Rs 10 billion flour subsidy as atta hits Rs 2,851 a 20kg bag

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved a Rs 10 billion subsidy for cheap flour (atta) after flour prices rose across the province, ARY News reported on Saturday 10 October. At an emergency video-link meeting she ordered officials to provide cheap flour and wheat to the public "at all costs".

What was decided

• Rs 10 billion for affordable flour across Punjab.
• Wheat will be supplied to flour mills at Rs 3,800 per maund (40kg), and the official wheat quota for mills has been increased.
• All available government transport will be used to move subsidised flour.
• Cheap flour and roti schemes will continue.

The chief minister voiced concern about artificial increases in flour and wheat prices. The report did not give the new bag price, where the subsidised flour will be sold or how long the subsidy will last; we will add those when the Punjab Food Department notifies them.

Why now: atta up 5.7% in one week

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics' weekly price survey for the week to 8 October put the national average price of a 20kg flour bag at Rs 2,851, up from Rs 2,697 a week earlier and Rs 2,150 a year ago. Flour was the biggest weekly riser among 51 items. Our SPI report has the full list.

That is a long way above the prices Punjab was quoting in summer. In July, a district food controller told APP that the province was spending more than Rs 20 billion on subsidies, that mills were getting 5,000 tonnes of subsidised wheat a day at Rs 3,800 per 40kg, and that a 20kg bag cost Rs 2,200 (10kg: Rs 1,100). The open-market wheat price was then about Rs 4,500 per 40kg.

What it costs a household

A family that uses two 20kg bags a month now pays about Rs 5,700 at the national average, against Rs 4,400 at Punjab's July price of Rs 2,200 a bag: Rs 1,300 more every month. That gap is what the subsidy is meant to close.

What to do

• Buy from outlets selling at the notified rate, and ask for the government price list.
• Report overcharging through the Punjab government's price-control channels in your district.
• Track the weekly price of flour, chicken and other staples in our economy section, and see how your monthly budget stretches with the salary breakdown calculator.

Earlier this autumn flour millers threatened a Punjab-wide strike over permits and fines; see our report on the millers' strike call.