The country is facing an acute shortage of flour amidst the foreign exchange crisis with many industries related to it being affected.
The All Ceylon Bakery Owners’ Association (ACBOA) yesterday said there will be an inevitable shortage of bakery products including bread in the near future.
“People will not even be able to purchase a loaf of bread through queues in future because we don’t have wheat flour to make,” ACBOA President N.K. Jayawardane told the Daily FT.
Noting that they already had discussions with the two main flour companies, he said that the shortage of foreign exchange has made it difficult to import raw materials.
“The two companies have received only 10% of the required amount of foreign exchange to import raw materials,” he added.
Jayawardane called on the Government to intervene to ensure there are sufficient stocks to avoid a catastrophic situation.
“People are battered by multiple challenges post-pandemic. Since last year people are now in long queues to purchase essential food items. It is pathetic to see if people will have to wait in line and still not be able to buy any bakery products to avoid starvation,” he added.
(FT)