Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday ruled out allowing the private sector to import wheat for now and \u201cmake fat profits\u201d, given the extraordinary situation in the wake of devastating monsoon floods and the country\u2019s foreign exchange woes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is being said that the federal government is not allowing the private sector to import [wheat]. I will not allow this, I will not allow that the private sector procures it at a price of their choice,\u201d the premier asserted while presiding over a National Flood Response and Coordination Centre (NFRCC) meeting in Islamabad.<\/p>\n
But saying so, he was quick to clarify that he was neither blaming nor casting aspersions on anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all honourable Pakistanis. All provincial governments are very honourable and they are doing a great job. But there is a system in place, then has been destruction and then there is the difficult matter of foreign exchange,\u201d he said, adding that his team in the federal cabinet had worked hard to import the commodity and yet \u201csave billions of rupees\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe even negotiated with the lowest bidder and taken discounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The premier said he was sure that even provincial governments had the capacity to handle the matter, \u201cbut this is an emergency\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd in this emergency, we cannot even afford to spend a dollar extra,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He then went on to question: \u201cBut why should I allow the private sector [to import wheat]? Why should I allow the private sector at this point and time?\u201d<\/p>\n
The prime minister said the government would have been willing to give permission for wheat imports to the private sector under \u201cnormal circumstances\u201d after consultation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I will not allow the private sector to make fat profits, and then use Pakistan\u2019s foreign exchange and then sell it to the consumer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will not happen, and this shall not happen,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n
The premier also told the meeting that his cabinet had held a debate and discussion session to address wheat shortage.<\/p>\n
He said his team was taking steps to plug the gap created due to the shortage in the last government\u2019s tenure and also making arrangements to address the further anticipated shortage due to floods.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the floods, it is feared that we may not be able to reach our target and arrangements are being made to address that as well,\u201d the premier said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday ruled out allowing the private sector to import wheat for now and \u201cmake fat profits\u201d, given the extraordinary situation in the wake of devastating monsoon floods and the country\u2019s foreign exchange woes. \u201cIt is being said that the federal government is not allowing the private sector to import [wheat]. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5822,11150,11151],"class_list":{"0":"post-290474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-pm-shehbaz-sharif","9":"tag-private-sector","10":"tag-wheat-import"},"yoast_head":"\n