Surplus wheat: PBIF suggests increase in regulatory duty

Says it should be increased from 40% to 60% to discourage imports

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) has suggested the government to increase regulatory duty on import of wheat from 40% to 60% to discourage imports.

“The country already has surplus stocks; therefore wheat imports at this stage would be against national interest,” said PBIF President Mian Zahid Hussain in a statement issued Wednesday.

He said that the federal and provincial governments have almost ten million tons of surplus wheat, which is rotting in warehouses.

Earlier this year, the government increased regulatory duty on imports from 25% to 40% but it failed to deter importers, said Hussain.

Surplus stock could not be sold in the international markets due to low prices despite frequent extension of dates and upward revision in the export rebate which hit almost $90 per ton, he noted.

The business leader said that the federal government allowed Punjab and Sindh to sell 1,200,000 tonnes of wheat but both provinces could manage to sell only 416,650 tons, almost one third of the allowed wheat export.

He said that high support price has increased production of wheat but its prices has remained the same for three years, which if reduced will increase consumption in turn reducing pressure on stocks and providing relief to the masses while easing pressure on the central bank.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2016.

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