Price rigging

Pakistan has been hit by an acute shortage of wheat, causing its price and the price of flour to hit record highs. In most markets, these items are being sold at much higher than the official rate and the respective price control committees seem to be turning a blind eye to the situation.

Yet again, our economic and agricultural planners appear to have failed to figure out how much wheat we need to import and how much we can afford to export. This has happened so many times that it is becoming harder to put it down to simple ignorance and incompetence. One can now reasonably suspect that the government is holding back wheat supplies, which includes both imports and local production, in connivance with large agri-land owners in order to keep prices and profits high.

Rasheed Mangrio

Hyderabad