Punjab seeks payment for wheat allocated to Centre

Rs59.4 billion earmarked for 2.5 million metric tonnes of province's wheat, declared Federal Strategic Reserves.

LAHORE: The Punjab chief minister has requested the prime minister for the immediate release of Rs59.4 billion earmarked for 2.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of wheat owned by the Punjab government. This wheat stock has been declared as part of the Federal Strategic Reserves (FSR) and the payment will enable the provincial government to procure wheat in the upcoming harvesting season.

Shahbaz Sharif further requested for the lifting of ban on export of wheat to allow private businessmen and the Punjab government to export from its stock to bail out the provincial government from its current financial crisis.

Irfan Elahi, secretary food Punjab, said no response was received as yet from the prime minister’s secretariat regarding the release of required funds earmarked for FSR and the lifting of the ban imposed on wheat export. The reserved wheat is still in the stocks of the food department, he added.

In a letter personally written by Shahbaz Sharif on November 26 made available to The Express Tribune, the chief minister drew the PM’s attention towards this critical issue the Punjab government is expected to face during the next wheat harvesting season. The chief minister maintained that the provincial food department has procured 3.7MMT of wheat, while carry-forward of old stocks has been around 2.9MMT; the total stocks being now at 6.6MMT. Out of this total 2.5MMT has been declared as FSR by the federal govt.

The current wheat stock with the food department is around 5.9 MMT and the release during the remaining season is expected to be not more than 2.2 MMT, leaving behind almost 3.7 MMT as carry-forward for the next consecutive year.

The chief minister prayed that the adverse affects of this huge stock will lead to an increase in the financial burden along with huge payments of mark-up as well as occupation of all available covered storage space. This, he wrote, will result in storage of wheat stocks in open areas thus making it more vulnerable to weather effects and calamities.

The chief minister further requested the prime minister to allow the Punjab government to export at least 1MMT wheat from government stocks to create fiscal and physical space for the upcoming harvest.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2010.