Businessmen and economic intelligentsias have suggested that the government take emergency measures to import food from neighbouring countries to overcome the food security problem and end all taxes until the country’s agricultural production situation improves and returns to normalcy.
In a press release issued on Saturday, the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectual Forum President Mian Zahid Hussain called upon the government to allow imports from all four neighbouring countries, stating that the war between Russia and Ukraine had caused a lot of damage to global agriculture and the prices of all agricultural commodities had skyrocketed.
The grain which fell prey to this with the biggest impact was wheat, whose prices jumped record high, and now following the disastrous floods, its entire crop standing on millions of acres wiped out in Pakistan.
Although imports from Iran and Afghanistan were allowed, the supply of foreign exchange to importers was stopped which increased the cost of their business significantly,
it read.
While India was the best choice for quick and cheap food import, it was not allowed by the government as the mainstream opposition could use it as a weapon for political advantage. In the absence of direct trade with India, Indian and Pakistani businessmen are forced to trade through the United Arab Emirates at extra cost.
The government should give priority to the welfare of the people and give preference to the neighbouring countries instead of importing agricultural products from distant countries. Moreover, if $17 billion or Rs4000 billion are given to Pakistani farmers in the form of interest-free loans instead of being distributed among farmers abroad, there can be a revolution in the country’s agricultural production. Otherwise, the situation could worsen even further by 2050, when Pakistan’s population is projected to reach 380 million.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2022.
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