PBF urges CCI review as wheat pricing crisis looms

KARACHI: The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) has called on the government to present the wheat pricing issue before the Council of Common Interests (CCI), warning that the abolition of the wheat support price could trigger a crisis as harvest season begins.

PBF Chief Organiser Ahmad Jawad said the government prematurely moved towards a free market model despite having a year left to meet related IMF conditions. He criticised the absence of a stakeholder-backed policy, citing last year’s poor import decisions that already hurt domestic wheat growers.

Jawad noted that wheat is currently trading at around Rs2,500 per maund in Punjab markets, against a cultivation cost of Rs3,200 -- a loss of Rs700 per maund for a second consecutive year. He said the pricing gap contributed to Pakistan missing its wheat cultivation target this season.

“Wheat is Pakistan’s most important food crop and a cornerstone of food security,” Jawad said. “Undermining the farmer at the start of the cycle will negatively affect other crops too.” He warned that ending a support price regime in place for over five decades would shift advantage to middlemen, with consumers already paying around Rs5,800 per maund for wheat in flour form. The PBF cautioned that without timely intervention, the government could be forced to resume wheat imports by December.

The forum also rejected the wheat package announced by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, saying it offers no meaningful relief to farmers. Jawad claimed the provincial government has prioritised stockpiling wheat over direct procurement, questioning the impact of the strategy.

He added that while public funds would be spent, farmers would see no tangible benefit. Meanwhile, flour mills have reportedly increased their borrowing limits from banks by up to 100 per cent, he said.

Jawad also recalled last year’s controversial decision to import 70 vessels of wheat despite a bumper crop forecast, which sparked backlash and cost the country over $1 billion -- a move he said could have been avoided through better use of strategic reserves.