The federal government has allowed the export of flour conditionally to address the country's food supply concerns. The Finance Ministry has issued a notification after the permission granted by the government, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.

According to the notification, the government gave the permission for the export of flour from imported wheat. The permission was granted under Export Facility Scheme 2021 by bringing amendment in Export Policy 2022.

According to the officials, the government has ample reserves of wheat in the country. Moreover, the government was hoping to achieve 32 million tonnes of wheat production targets during the current harvesting season.

The agriculture department claimed that during 2024, wheat cultivation will exceed their target by 1.8 percent.

Earlier, the caretaker government had decided to stop the import of wheat.

The government’s move marked a departure from the previous stance taken by the caretaker federal cabinet, which had imposed ban on flour exports on February 29, 2024.

Notably, the decision to ban flour exports was initially introduced during PTI government in 2019, primarily to curb smuggling activities.

With this latest decision, the government wanted to manage the wheat supply chain more effectively, ensuring stability in domestic markets while also capitalizing on export opportunities for flour.

Reporter: Waqas Azeem