The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Cabinet has approved the fixation of wheat procurement targets for PASSCO, Sindh, and Balochistan along with the cash credit limit.
Sources said that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired the meeting of ECC for the second consecutive day on Friday.
The Ministry of National Food Security and Research presented the summary of the fixation of wheat procurement targets 2024 for PASSCO, Sindh, and Balochiatan, along with the cash credit limit.
The meeting was told that the public sector, comprising of PASSCO and the provincial governments, procures local wheat on the profitable support price announced by the Federal Cabinet, to stabilize wheat prices and to ensure fair returns to farmers during the post-harvest period.
PASSCO procures wheat from Punjab Sindh and Balochistan and provides the same to deficit Provinces/Areas. PASSCO is also responsible for maintaining the strategic reserves of the country.
Similarly, provincial food departments procure wheat from their growers and release it to the flour mills of the respective province as per the release policy approved by respective Provincial Cabinets.
Public wheat procurement is a regular process proposed on the recommendations of the Provincial Cabinets.
For the year 2024, procurement targets, as conveyed by PASSCO, Sindh, and Balochistan, are 2.45 MMT; including 1.40 MMT for PASSCO (CCL of Rs. 169.00 billion), 1.00 MMT for Sindh (CCL of Rs. 100 billion) and 0.050 MMT for Balochistan (CCL of Rs. 5.70 billion).
The government of Punjab has also been requested accordingly, and the response is awaited. It may be noted that Punjab’s procurement target for the last year (2023) was set at 4.50 MMT.
