ECC maintains ban on wheat export

Approves transfer of Rs2b from parliamentarians’ schemes to priority projects

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Wednesday decided to continue with the ban on wheat export due to a continued hike in flour prices and also approved the diversion of Rs2 billion allocated for parliamentarians’ schemes to its priority projects that were not fully funded.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved the transfer of Rs2 billion from the Cabinet Division to the Planning, Development and Reform Division as a technical supplementary grant, according to a statement issued by the finance ministry.

The funds were withdrawn from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement Programme (SAP) in favour of the Planning, Development and Reform Division for current fiscal year 2019-20 to meet requirements of important projects without affecting the overall allocation of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) by the federal government.

The SDG funds are meant for the parliamentarians’ schemes. In the current fiscal year, the government has allocated Rs24 billion for such schemes. In the last fiscal year, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had diverted funds from China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects to the parliamentarians’ schemes.

For this fiscal year, the government has approved Rs701 billion for the federal PSDP. However, the release of funds remains slow and the planning ministry has so far authorised Rs84.4 billion for development spending.

The ECC approved separate proposals for payment of over Rs1.5 billion in subsidy charges to executing agencies of the Prime Minister’s Youth Business Loan Scheme. Unlike the previous fiscal year, this year the government is not approving supplementary budgets due to a tough primary deficit reduction target.

However, the finance ministry cleared the file of PM’s Youth Business Loan programme, which was built upon the programme of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The ECC also thoroughly discussed the wheat situation in the country and in light of a briefing by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research decided to continue the ban on export of wheat and wheat flour.

However, despite the ban which was imposed in July, the wheat stocks remained low this year due to less procurement by Sindh, Punjab and Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) and smuggling of the commodity to Afghanistan.

Passco and the four provinces have so far procured only four million tons of wheat against the target of 6.25 million tons, according to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.

The ECC asked provincial governments to undertake a fresh assessment of wheat stocks in storages in order to ensure that adequate supply was available in the winter season.

It instructed the Ministry of Finance to call an early meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee to assess the wheat and flour supply situation in different parts of the country, including the federal capital, in the wake of recent reports of rising prices of some core food items, including flour.

In July this year, it approved the proposal to ban wheat and wheat flour export with reservations that the move may not stop outward flow of the staple commodity owing to its smuggling to Afghanistan.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research had requested the ECC to ban the export of wheat due to nearly 32% reduction in its stock. Wheat reserves stood at around 7.5 million tons as against 11 million tons at the same time last year.

A study by the Competition Commission of Pakistan has found that provincial price control laws lack teeth and cannot effectively check price hike and hoarding of essential commodities. It has advised the four federating units to bring new legislation and set up a single authority to nab profiteers.

The CCP has issued a policy note to the provincial governments weeks after sugar barons pocketed billions of rupees by increasing sugar prices despite having surplus stock and wheat flour prices also shot up.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2019.

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