On one hand, the government gives subsidy and makes efforts to encourage wheat exports but on the other hand if any opportunity comes, it is rejected outright. PHOTO: FILE
The exporter, Sunny Trader, had expressed interest in exporting wheat after receiving demand from the neighbouring country.
After the verification of import request from the Foreign Office, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research prepared a summary for the ECC’s approval, but the cabinet committee in its meeting on Thursday turned down the request due to unknown reasons.
However, a senior official suggested that the ECC rejected the summary as it believed that a single exporter could not handle such a huge quantity of the commodity.
Ministry of National Food Security and Research Federal Secretary Sirat Asghar also confirmed that the ECC’s stopped short of giving its approval but he did not share the reason.
The news came as a surprise for many in the export sector as well as in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
“On the one hand, the government gives subsidy on wheat exports and makes efforts to encourage the private sector to export the surplus, but on the other hand if any opportunity comes, it is rejected outright,” an exporter commented.
Earlier, the government allowed provinces and private-sector players to take initiatives for the export of surplus wheat by offering a subsidy of $45 per ton to Sindh and $55 per ton to Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2015.
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