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Pakistani authority rejects wheat export at reduced price
02.07.2010 13:09 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
Pakistani Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) rejected the proposal to export 2 million tons of wheat at reduced rates, saying the government was not interested in benefiting foreign consumers, local newspaper The News reported Wednesday.
Under the proposal of the Punjab government, the provincial government wanted to export 2 million tons of wheat. But this would make a loss of 27 billion rupees (about 0.32 billion U.S. dollars) in subsidy, as the wheat price in the international market is much lower than in Pakistan.
During the meeting on Tuesday, many ECC members insisted that instead of benefiting foreign consumers, the same amount should be distributed at subsidized rate to benefit the poor in the country.
Another proposal that came under discussion was that this wheat be distributed among the poorest of the poor through the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).
The ECC will submit its recommendations in a week on how to handle the surplus 2 million tons of wheat in a manner that benefits the poor, the report said.
Punjab government had procured 10.7 million tons of wheat as against its capacity to store 6.57 million tons of the commodity. Some wheat is stored in private stores but two million tons of wheat is surplus.
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