NA body for curbing wheat, fertilizer smuggling for price stabilization
Business
NA body for curbing wheat, fertilizer smuggling for price stabilization
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research on Wednesday expressed its concerns over the smuggling of wheat and fertilizers and asked for taking appropriate measures to curb the menace for ensuring supply of the commodity on affordable price across the country.
The Committee, which met here with Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan, Member National Assembly (MNA) in the Chair also noted that due to smuggling of wheat, prices of flour in local market increased, besides the ban on the inter provincial movement of wheat was another reason to enhance gap between demand and supply in deficit areas and price fluctuation in open market.
Briefing the Committee, Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research Zafar Hassan said that there were sufficient stocks of wheat available to tackle with local requirements.
He said that about 1.224 million metric tons of wheat had also been imported and remaining quantity of 1.376 million metric tons were in pipeline and would arrive up till March.
He said that delay in wheat releases from the official stocks to millers by the provincial governments were the main reason of price hike, adding that delayed releases are creating gap between demand and supply of the commodity and sparking price in local markets.
He said that federal government was providing wheat to 11 other national entities and as well as to provinces, adding that the demand from provinces increased after recent floods and would be provided additional 0.6 million tons by importing the commodity.
He apprised the meeting that tendering process for the import of 2.60 million metric tons of wheat was completed, adding that first tender was awarded in May, 2022 and last was awarded in December, whereas under government to government agreement, wheat was also being imported from Russia.
Zafar Hassan told the meeting that due to Russia- Ukraine war, the prices of grains witnessed worldwide increase, adding that the local markets were also impacted and prices of different commodities went up.
Meanwhile, the meeting was also apprised about the progress of Prime Minister Kissan Package and told that an amount of Rs 663.9 billion was released by end of November, 2022, adding that State Bank of Pakistan has issued notification for the waver of Rs10.62 billion on markup on outstanding loans for the subsistence farmers in the flood hit areas.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Members National Assembly (MNA) Ahmad Raza Mancka, Kamal Uddin, Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan. Chairman PARC and other officials of the ministry also attended the meeting.
