Pakistan spends one billion US$ on wheat import this year

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan imported one billion US dollars’ wheat in first nine months of the current financial year, citing PBS sources, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The country has imported 3.4 million tonnes of wheat from July to March during the ongoing fiscal year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) sources said.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had allowed the government in July 2023 to import wheat to fill likely shortfall of the grain.

Pakistan, an agro-based economy produced 27 million tonnes of wheat for domestic consumption in current year, while it was required 31 million tonnes of the grain to feed its population.

The country was facing an estimated shortfall of 2.5 million tonnes of wheat, which is staple food of most of the countrymen.

Earlier, a report of the Auditor General pointed out that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and the PASSCO imported expensive wheat resulting in billions of rupees losses to the national exchequer.

The people had to purchase the wheat flour on very expensive price, the Auditor General disclosed in the annual report.

The report also pointed out that the private sector imported wheat on cheaper price than the TCP and the PASSCO.

According to the report the national exchequer suffered 31.32 million US dollars loss owing to wheat import on inflated rates.

The audit report focussed on the import data of wheat from Year 2017 to 2022.