Pakistan has approved the import of one million tons of wheat through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan as the government moves to meet domestic requirements and prevent further increases in flour and bread costs.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar approved the import after the government completed the conditions attached to the decision of the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet.
The ECC had earlier approved the import of one million tons of wheat and formed a steering committee to ensure that all requirements were completed before imports could proceed. These included pre shipment inspection, securing the required contributions from provincial governments and allowing the Finance Ministry to deduct the relevant amounts from provincial shares under the National Finance Commission arrangement where necessary.
Dar told The News that the TCP would conduct the import through an open tender and follow its standard procurement procedure. The wheat will therefore be purchased through competitive bidding rather than through a direct government procurement arrangement.
Pakistan produced around 28.6 million tons of wheat, a volume that was considered sufficient to meet domestic consumption requirements. However, the administration is now facing supply concerns as wheat held in private storage has reportedly not been issued into the market at the expected pace.
What happened
As the report notes, hoarders and middlemen have been holding wheat stocks while anticipating higher prices. The government has opted for imports to rise market supply and prevent the situation from pushing up the prices of flour and roti.
The decision also reflects growing worries over the depletion of strategic wheat reserves. While PASSCO’s strategic reserves of around 1.8 million tons have been steadily depleted against provincial requirements, the federal and provincial governments did not procure sufficient quantities despite approval from the International Monetary Fund.
With the strategic reserves now close to zero, the ECC decided to bring one million tons of wheat into the country. The steering committee was tasked with ensuring that the necessary conditions were met before the government proceeded with the import.
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