Punjab will export 800,000 tons while Sindh will ship 400,000 tons of wheat. Punjab will get a subsidy of $55 per ton for export while for Sindh the subsidy will be $45 per ton. PHOTO: PID
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), which met under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, approved the export of 1.2 million tons of wheat and imposed a ban on the import of wheat by-products.
The economic decision-making body approved a subsidy of about Rs5 billion for the export of 1.2 million tons.
Punjab will export 800,000 tons while Sindh will ship 400,000 tons of wheat. Punjab will get a subsidy of $55 per ton for export while for Sindh the subsidy will be $45 per ton.
However, even after exporting the approved quantity, Punjab will be having a stock of 3.4 million tons and Sindh 1.5 million tons and the country is also expected to harvest a bumper new wheat crop of around 26 million tons.
Taking notice of the unhindered import of wheat by-products, the ECC also issued instructions for an immediate ban on their import.
According to top officials, the four provinces wanted to export surplus wheat and the ministry also endorsed the demand keeping in view the expected next bumper crop. “Since wheat is in abundance, the ECC has allowed export of the crop,” an official said.
The decision will not only help increase foreign reserves of the country, but will also stabilise the domestic wheat market. It will also help encourage peasants to grow more wheat.
Pakistan’s wheat needs stand at 23-24 million tons. The official said the government regulates the wheat produce and the prices are already fixed.
The ECC approved the provision of 30,000 tons of wheat to the United Nations’ World Food Programme for distribution among Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) of Fata and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, catering for the period up to March.
The ECC considered and approved the Ministry of Water and Power’s policy proposal for attracting private sector investment in transmission lines projects with the inclusion of upfront tariff as an option.
Nepra is empowered to grant a licence authorising the investor to engage in the construction, ownership, maintenance and operation of specified transmission facilities on specified terms and conditions in the public interest.
The ECC also accorded approval to the extension of gas sales agreement between OGDC and Fauji Kabirwala Power Company Limited (FKPCL) for the provision of 20 mmcfd of gas at the earliest but not later than February 1 until the time LNG is made available to the company for power generation.
At its maximum generation capacity utilisation, the plant will generate 157 megawatts of electricity.
The ECC approved the issuance of policy directive to Nepra to include the cost incurred by the power sector in the tariff without affecting the end-consumer.
The committee also approved the re-lending of the buyer credit loan to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) as per actual terms and conditions available to the government of Pakistan. Based on this, the revised rate comes to 9% comprising the actual cost of loan and exchange rate risk.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2015.
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Few months back Import of wheat was allowed .Now export is allowed with subsidy.What is wrong with this government