Punjab, Sindh backtrack on imported wheat as Centre weighs financing 1 million tonnes alone

Wheat flour prices rose 77.5% year on year to Rs132.5 per kilogram from Rs75, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The figures coincide with Punjab and Sindh backing away from imported wheat, leaving Islamabad to either fund a one million tonne import alone or abandon it. Express Tribune reported both provinces told steering committee meetings on August 9 and 12 that they no longer wanted imported grain.

Punjab has moved several times in recent weeks, first committing to one million tonnes, then cutting that to 800,000 tonnes, before concluding it had no need for imported wheat. Food Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain asked for the stance in writing, a step that would stop Punjab from later attributing any shortage to Islamabad. A Punjab representative argued the province had ample supply, with 800,000 tonnes from federal stocks, 533,000 of them still uncollected, plus about 500,000 tonnes bought from farmers.

Sindh likewise hesitated to take imported grain, even though it had earlier sought 720,000 tonnes, while Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar's office said the committee still backed bringing in a million tonnes. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa criticised Punjab's reversal and still seeks 200,000 tonnes of imported wheat on top of 200,000 tonnes of local supply. Provinces have been quoted a price of Rs4,150 per 40 kilograms, Rs650 above the farmer rate, while no province had responded to the draft Tripartite Agreement by Thursday.