Flour shortage feared as millers go on Strike

 Strike called to protest new withholding.

 Small grinding units. Dealers also down

tools, disrupitng  supply

LAHORE: Urban consumers are bracing for a potential shortage of flour as the All-Pakistan Flour Mills Associ­ation (PFMA) went on a nationwide strike on Thursday in protest against the newly imposed withholding tax.

Owners of atta chakkis (small wheat grinding units) and flour dealers in various towns have also joined the strike, leading to significant disruptions in flour supply across many urban centres. PFMA Chairman Asim Raza has vowed to continue the strike until the association’s demands are met.

Mr Raza expressed his association’s strong reservations on the withholding tax, explaining that the measure has made flour mills withholding agents for tax collection. He said this tax is expected to increase flour prices by Rs8 per kilogram.

“The tax measure is unacceptable and impracticable as flour dealers are refusing to lift their consignments instead of sharing their tax details for withholding tax purposes,” Mr Raza said, warning that the strike will severely disrupt the supply chain.

Describing the imposition of a Rs600 tax on a Rs11,000 flour bag as inappropriate, the PFMA chief countered Punjab Food Minister Bilal Yasin’s claim that the strike had been postponed until after Ashura (July 17).

“Neither the government nor the FBR has contacted us for talks or to reconsider the strike,” Mr Raza added.

The strike has effectively halted the grinding and supply of wheat nationwide, affecting flour availability and related products.

“We don’t wish to trouble the public during Muharram, which is why the industry continued to supply flour to the market until July 10 despite bearing a tax burden of millions of rupees,” Iftikhar Ahmed Mattoo, chairman of PFMA’s Punjab chapter, said.