Islamabad: The Pakistani government has hiked prices of wheat flour, sugar and ghee by 25 to 62 per cent for sale through the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) with immediate effect, media reports said on Monday.

The beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) would be exempt from the price increase, while the limit for subsidised purchases from the USC has also been curtailed, reports Dawn News.

The new rates were notified by the USC on New Year’s Eve on Saturday after the federal cabinet last week approved Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s recommendation to clear a hybrid model of subsidies involving targeted and untargeted elements of the prime minister’s relief package.

Under the new rates that went effective on Sunday, the price of sugar has been raised from Rs70 per kg to Rs89, an increase of 27pc. Likewise, the price of ghee has been jacked up by Rs75 per kg to Rs375, while wheat flour price has been increased by 62pc to Rs64.8 per kg from Rs40 at present, the Pakistani newspaper reported.

The USC said in a statement that poor populations registered in the BISP’s scorecard and below PMT-32 (Proxy Means Test to describe people below the poverty line) would remain eligible for a special, targeted subsidy.