ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that government will put everything before people with regard to those responsible for wheat import scandal.

“We will put everything before nation,” PM Shehbaz said during meeting with Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, bureaucrat leading probe into said issue.

Premier’s remarks came as federal government has been caught in fix after Balochistan and Punjab governments were unable to purchase wheat from farmers due to surplus in stock which, so far, is being attributed to excessive import of crop.

Commenting on decision to import wheat, he said that only 3.4 million metric tonnes of said crop was imported whereas shortage was of 4 million metric tonnes.He also been told that additional wheat import caused loss of more than Rs 300 billion to national exchequer.

Revealing that caretaker government imported wheat costing Rs 98.5 billion, documents show that Finance Ministry allowed import of 0.5 million metric tonnes of wheat on September 27, 2023, via private sector at time when dollar was being exchanged at 305 against local currency.

Published in The Daily National Courier, May, 06 2024

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