According to the official reports, Pakistan’s food import expenditure extended by 53.98 percent to $7.550 billion year-on-year during the 11 months of the current fiscal year (11MFY21) due to sugar, wheat, palm oil as well as pulses imports to bridge the shortage in domestic production of agriculture produce.
According to the data collected by PBS (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics), the proportion of food items that are in the total import bill reached 15.08pc this year, compared to the 12pc last year, which makes the country reliant on imports to guarantee food security.
The increasing food import expenditure furthermore resulted in the trade shortfall, which will surely now cause some fear and unease on the exterior side for the state government in the coming months.
In the 2021-22 budget, the federal government has suggested multiple measurements including substantial allowances for expanding per acre yield, lowering wastage, and setting up enormous stores for keeping tactical food items.
The federal government’s estimate of jumbo crops of sugar, wheat, and corns will reduce alterations of any type of material imports. However, the government will import around 4 million tons of wheat as crucial books. The federal government has introduced that wheat production will be around 27.23 m tons this year.
