DNA

ISLAMABAD, AUG 17 – Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said that the government will take all out measures to ensure availability of sufficient wheat and flour to the masses throughout the year.

He made this statement while chairing a meeting held at the Finance Division to review the situation, availability and future demand of wheat and flour in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Finance Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. Kazim Niaz, Secretary Finance Naveed Kamran Baloch, Secretary National Food Security & Research Omar Hamid Khan were also present.

The meeting reviewed the current wheat situation in the province in detail, particularly existing stocks in the public sector and requirement for the province until the next harvest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and decided to take appropriate measures to ensure sufficient supply and availability of wheat and flour in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the coming months.

Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. Kazim Niaz told the meeting that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had about 0.6 million tones of wheat in its stocks while it had recently procured 100,000 tonnes of wheat from PASSCO and another 100,000 from it was in the process of being carried off to the province. He said the provincial authorities planned to procure another 300,000 tonnes of wheat from the PASSCO for which they were already in touch with the body. Similarly, they had plans to import 300,000 tonnes of wheat.

The Chief Secretary said the provincial government aimed to have at least 1.5 million tones of wheat in its own stocks, and the same quantity was likely to be supplied by the private parties to the local market to meet the estimated 3 million tones of wheat requirement for the province until the start of next harvest.