Pakistan, Aug. 4 -- The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) has released a game-changing policy blueprint titled "Towards a Free Market: A Blueprint for Wheat Sector Deregulation," authored by Dr. Muhammad Faisal Ali and Dr. Sobia Rose. Published as Policy Viewpoint, the document calls for the full and structured deregulation of Pakistan's wheat sector, arguing that the long-standing Minimum Support Price (MSP) policy has failed to stabilize markets, protect farmers, or ensure consumer welfare.

Instead, it has led to unintended consequences-benefiting large landholders, flour millers, and middlemen-while accumulating a circular debt of PKR 680 billion in Punjab by 2023. The authors note that the MSP regime distorts incenti...