Flour price hike will not affect bread and bakery products

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – The All Island Bakery Owners Association says that despite the rise in the price of wheat flour, it has no plans to raise the price of bread or bakery items.

NK Jayawardena, the association’s chairman, told the media that the cost of the raw materials used to make bakery goods had grown by 400%.

According to Jayawardena, the cost of a kg of wheat flour has increased by Rs. 13.

He asked the government to stop levying the value-added tax on bakeries.

Nalin Fernando, the minister of trade, stated yesterday, October 4, in Parliament that the cost of wheat flour will decrease next week.

The Minister stated that a kg of wheat flour should cost no more than Rs. 250.

Stocks of imported wheat flour will start to arrive in Sri Lanka this week, according to Minister Fernando.

He mentioned that the Colombo port is now unloading about 100 containers of wheat flour.

The Minister said that Sri Lanka imports wheat flour from Dubai and Turkey and that the price of wheat flour has significantly grown as a result of the delays in the shipments’ arrival.