Hafeez Shaikh chairs ECC meeting to review wheat supply, prices

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Monday chaired a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) to review supply and demand of wheat in the country and its subsequent impact on its prices, ARY NEWS reported.

According to a handout issued today after the ECC meeting, it was decided to form a subcommittee to implement upon the guidelines of Hafeez Shaikh regarding subsidy on wheat.

The meeting was briefed that wheat imported from Russia would reach Pakistan in the ongoing month and would help in overcoming the shortage of the commodity.

It was also decided to form a logistics committee to monitor the availability of wheat on a day-to-day basis.

In a meeting of the ECC on November 06, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the session to deliberate over wheat supply and prices across the country.

According to the press statement issued to underscore the meeting agenda, important decisions were made in line with the government’s priorities to stabilize smooth wheat supply and regulate prices of the commodity being the most essential one.

Finance advisor Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has constituted a coordination committee to oversee the supply and due provision of wheat across Pakistan.

ECC session today has decided a support price for 40 kilograms of wheat to be Rs1650 and has instructed the authorities to supply 38,000 metric tons of wheat to flour mills daily.

For Punjab the share of wheat will be 25,000 metric tons, followed by Sindh with 8 metric tons, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa four thousand metric tons, and Balochistan trailing with one thousand metric tons of wheat daily.

It may be noted that the same ECC session has decided to maintain the regular price of 40 kg of wheat at Rs1475.