ISLAMABAD: The government has finalized its wheat procurement plan for the current year and given final shape to the draft of the interim wheat policy. The recommendations outlined in the interim policy will be presented to the federal cabinet for approval in the coming weeks.
In this regard, under the plan, the government aims to procure a total of 6.25 million metric tons of wheat during the current procurement season. Unlike previous years, both federal and provincial governments will not purchase wheat directly from farmers.
Instead, the procurement process will be carried out through the private sector, which will oversee and implement the purchase of wheat from growers across the country.
In this sense, under the new provision of plan, the federal government will procure 1.5 million metric tons, while Punjab will purchase 2.5 million metric tons.
The Sindh government is expected to buy 1 million metric tons, whereas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan will procure 750,000 and 500,000 metric tons respectively.
The government has set the indicative wheat procurement price at Rs3,500 per 40 kilograms (per maund). Furthermore, the support price for wheat has not been determined under any conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
They also focused on the fact that there will be no restrictions on inter-provincial movement of wheat, allowing for smoother supply and distribution across regions. The involvement of the private sector, they added, is expected to make the procurement process more transparent, efficient, and less burdensome on the public exchequer.
The interim wheat policy, once approved by the federal cabinet, will serve as a temporary framework for this year’s procurement and management cycle, until a comprehensive long-term policy is finalized.
