WEB DESK: Pakistan has imported one billion US dollars’ worth of wheat in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY), sources from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed on Saturday.
According to PBS sources, the country has imported 3.4 million tonnes of wheat from July to March during the ongoing FY.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) granted approval in July 2023 for the government to import wheat to address a likely shortfall of the grain.
Despite being an agro-based economy, Pakistan produced 27 million tonnes of wheat for domestic consumption this year, falling short of the required 31 million tonnes to feed its population.
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Pakistan is currently facing an estimated shortfall of 2.5 million tonnes of wheat, a staple food for a majority of its citizens.
A previous report by the Auditor General highlighted that both the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) imported expensive wheat, resulting in significant losses to the national exchequer.
The Auditor General’s annual report disclosed that people had to purchase wheat flour at highly inflated prices due to these imports. Additionally, the report indicated that the private sector imported wheat at lower prices compared to TCP and PASSCO.
According to the audit report, the national exchequer incurred a loss of 31.32 million US dollars due to the import of wheat at inflated rates.
The audit report focused on wheat import data from the years 2017 to 2022.
