ISLAMABAD: The strategic wheat reserves of the country by the first week of current month (August) were recorded at over 8.618 million metric tons that were sufficient to tackle with the domestic staple food requirements.
Out of the total available wheat stocks, the government had procured over 6.587 million metric, besides the carry forward reserves stood at over 2.030 million metric tons, said Food Security Commissioner in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research Dr Imtiaz Ali Gopang.
Talking to APP here on Wednesday, he said that food year starts from May 1st to April 30, every year, adding that during this period the government releases average about 46,300 metric tons per-day in order to keep local demand and supply at smooth for ensuring provision of flour at sustainable in open market across the country.
These traditional releases include 25,000 metric tons by Punjab, 10,000 metric tons by Sindh, 5,000 metric tons by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 1,000 metric tons by Balochistan, he added.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) release 5,300 metric tons form its own stocks to further supplement the supply of the commodity in local markets to maintain the prices of wheat and its produces, he added.
He informed that local wheat output during last season was recorded at 26.39 million metric tons as against the set targets of 28.887 million metric tons, registering short fall of about 8.6 percent, adding that to bridge the gap the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet had allowed to import about 3.0 million metric tons.
Dr Imtiaz further informed till date public sector has released about 18,800 metric tons of the commodity, where as private sector released over 20,701 metric tons out of its total procurement of 24,795 metric tons for flour production and other by products.
By the end of last month (July), the average price of 20 kg flour bag in Punjab remained stabled and recorded at Rs980 per bag, where as it recorded at Rs980 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said adding that the 20kg flour bag in Sindh and Balochistan was registered at Rs1,800 per bag.
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