Govt orders probe into delay in import of wheat
September 23, 2021 05:28 PM
Taking notice of the delay in the import of wheat, the federal government has ordered an investigation to identify those responsible, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.
Quoting sources, the channel reported that while Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin had blamed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the delay, the secretary Cabinet Division, on the other hand, had pointed fingers at the Ministry of National Food Security.
However, the Ministry of National Food Security has passed the buck onto the Trading Corporation and Ministry of Commerce.
Sources told 24News that the secretary Cabinet Division was of the view that the Ministry of National Food Security should not have forwarded the matter of wheat import to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting for consideration since the ministry itself was authorised to do so.
The secretary further said that dillydallying by the ministries and failure to take timely decisions had resulted in the delay of the import of wheat as well as other losses to the country.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Sherry Rehman has said she is surprised that the country’s import bill has increased by 99 percent since 2020.
In a tweet, she said it was unfortunate that each and every item was being imported under the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government. “Despite being an agricultural country, the food import bill has registered an increase by 53 percent,” she regretted.
https://twitter.com/sherryrehman/status/1440924720224997376
Quoting Asian Development Bank, Sherry said Pakistan was on fifth position on the list of regional countries with poor economic growth ratio.
She asked when will the government take action to remedy the country’s growing trade imbalance.
Reporter Awais Kiani