Daily Times

Former president of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Shahid Rasheed Butt on Sunday said if the government wants to keep food inflation in check then it should provide a real subsidy on urea. In a statement on Sunday, the former ICCI president said that urea covers 20 percent of the cost of crop. He further said if the government reduces taxes on other inputs of wheat crop, the price of wheat and flour will come down. 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. 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.