Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders said that the government should consider a gradual withdrawal from the wheat market which will reduce prices and help save billions of rupees wasted annually on unnecessary procurement and storage. The intervention of federal and provincial governments in the wheat market has resulted in overproduction of wheat on the cost of other crops while the masses are forced to consume the most expensive wheat flour in the world which is unjustified, it said. Despite overproduction of the staple, the majority of people are facing food security issue because of the price of wheat which is almost double than the international market, said Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Butt. The federal and provincial governments spend hundreds of billions of rupees annually on the process of purchase and storage which is marred with inefficiency, mismanagement, and corruption, he added. Moreover, he said, surplus production continues to rot in storage facilities as this wheat is impossible to export because of the price factor. The province of Punjab will save Rs26 billion annually if it withdraws from the wheat market while it will save another Rs150 billion by selling surplus stock while profit can be used for the good of rural communities. Such a move will divert the attention of a good number of farmers to the other crops which are being ignored.