Finance Ministry Raises Concern Over PASSCO’s Wheat Funding Request

The Ministry of Finance has raised concerns over the cash credit limit requested by the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO). The Finance Ministry says PASSCO’s funding request exceeds the actual cost of wheat procurement from farmers. The ministry has sought clarification from the Ministry of National Food Security and Research in this regard, reported Express Tribune. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had recently approved the Food Ministry’s proposal to approve a cash credit limit of Rs. 169 billion for PASSCO, with a wheat procurement target based on a price of Rs. 3,900 per 40 kg, roughly Rs. 33 billion higher than what was required. The proposal also assigned the Sindh government a wheat procurement target of one million metric tons, accompanied by a tentative cash credit limit of Rs. 100 billion and a support price of Rs. 4,000 per 40 kg. Balochistan was tasked with a procurement target of 0.050 million metric tons, with a cash credit limit of Rs. 5.70 billion and a support price of Rs. 4,300 per 40 kg. Notably, incidental charges totaling Rs. 2 billion are expected to be covered by the respective provincial governments. Islamabad isn’t happy with the disparity in support prices established by different provinces.