Pakistan : No decision yet on wheat import as costs estimated at Rs4,200-4,300 per maund, says food minister
Pakistan has yet to decide whether the federal or provincial governments will import one million tonnes of wheat. The Centre prefers provinces to handle imports, while discussions continue on support prices, procurement, and stock levels to balance farmer interests and domestic supply.
The federal government has not yet decided whether it or the provinces will handle the import of one million tonnes of wheat, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain told a National Assembly panel.
Briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research, chaired by MNA Syed Tariq Hussain, the minister put the likely import cost at Rs4,200 to Rs4,300 per maund. He said Islamabad’s preference is for provinces to carry out the imports themselves, with the Centre acting only to grant approval.
On pricing, Hussain argued that a reasonable wheat support price would help offset the impact of rising fertiliser costs on farmers. He warned that setting the support price at Rs4,500 per maund would push the crop into surplus territory.
MNA Rana Hayat Khan pushed back, noting that the government routinely spends billions on wheat imports while sidelining local growers. He said imports should only be considered once domestic stock levels are confirmed insufficient.
Hussain said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif backs the idea of a wheat support price, pointing to differing provincial approaches. Sindh has been procuring wheat directly, he said, while Punjab has used a public-private partnership model, buying at Rs3,200 per maund.
He added that he had proposed raising procurement to Rs3,800 per maund in provinces facing shortages, but had received no response from any province on the matter.
His ministry, he said, had separately requested data from all provinces on their existing wheat reserves.
Hussain told the committee that after wheat was released for Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, the federal government still held a stock of one million tons. A summary seeking approval to import that same quantity has already been sent to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), he said, adding that a steering committee has since been formed to oversee the import process.
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Source : Profit Pakistan Today
