The government will import 200,000 MT of rice and 400,000 MT of wheat within 15 days.
Advisor Council Committee on Economic Affairs, in a meeting with Finance Advisor of the interim government Dr Salehuddin Ahmed in the chair, gave the approval in principle.
Normally, suppliers are given 42 days to supply the products as per the public procurement law (PPA) 2006 and public procurement rules (PPR) 2008.
But after the ACEA's approval, the supply tenure has been reduced to 15 days in order to facilitate the quick import so that there is no shortage of the food.
About the proposed import, the Finance Advisor told reporters that the government initiated the move to import rice and wheat as the government does not want to see a shortage of the food supply.
"These are not immediately required, but the government wants to keep our stock ready for supply," he added.
As per the proposal, placed by the Ministry of Food, the government will import 200,000 MT of rice in the current fiscal year 2024-25 and 400,000 MT of wheat through the G2G (Government to Government) system.
In the financial year 2024-25, the government set a target to procure 350,000 MT of rice from international sources and 1.923 million MT) from domestic sources.
It also set a target to procure 700,000 MT of wheat from the international market and 10,000 MT from the domestic market for the financial year 2024-25.