Minister for National Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema has said that there is no shortage of wheat in the country and the strategic reserves are satisfactory.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, he vowed to propose to the Prime Minister to provide wheat to the flour mills in Islamabad through the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation, popularly known as PASSCO.

The Minister said daily requirement of the forty flour mills in Islamabad is 38,000 bags of 20 kilograms, while Punjab government is not providing enough to these flour mills and resultantly there is a shortage of 17,000 bags per day.

He said that since the millers are buying from the open market to meet the shortfall, the price of wheat flour is rising. He urged the Punjab Government to provide mills in Islamabad with the required amount of wheat.