
‘Wheat stocks sufficient until next harvest'
The committee said there is no shortage of the commodity in the country.
The disclosure was made by Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, who chaired the third meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Essential Cash Crops on Wednesday.
The committee also reviewed wheat production projections for 2025, carry-forward stocks, and national requirements for the food year 2025–26
The committee held a detailed discussion on the Cotton Plan 2025–26, focusing on immediate, medium, and long-term policy measures essential for the revival of Pakistan's cotton sector.
Dar emphasised the need for coordinated and actionable steps to restore cotton's central role in the economy and improve returns for farmers.
The Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) was also directed to convene a follow-up meeting next week, bringing together all relevant public and private sector stakeholders across the cotton value chain.
The MNFSR will present an actionable implementation plan to the committee to ensure effective execution of the recommendations.
The meeting was attended by the ministers for National Food Security, Finance, and Planning, SAPM Tariq Bajwa, and senior officials from the MNFS&R, Ministry of Commerce, and the FBR.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Business Recorder
4 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Dar urges urgent global financial reforms to save SDGs at UN Forum
NEW YORK: Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar delivered a strong call for sweeping global financial reforms during his address at the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) debate, warning that the world is far off track in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He stated that with only five years left until 2030, just 35 percent of the SDGs are currently on course. The Deputy Prime Minister blamed the reversal in development progress on the compounded impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, global food, fuel, and financial crises, and the growing intensity of climate change—all of which have undermined hard-won gains and worsened inequality worldwide. Despite these global setbacks, Dar emphasised that Pakistan remains fully committed to the 2030 Agenda. He highlighted that the country's national development strategies, including its 'Udan Pakistan' framework, are closely aligned with the SDGs. Dar said Pakistan's social protection initiatives, such as the Benazir Income Support Programme and the Benazir Nashonuma child development scheme, are aimed at ensuring inclusivity and preventing marginalisation. To empower the youth, Pakistan has launched the Digital Youth Hub, while efforts are underway to expand access to quality education through smart schools and new university campuses. On the climate front, Dar noted Pakistan's ambition to achieve 60 percent renewable energy by 2030, along with resilience-building projects like Recharge Pakistan and the Living Indus initiative. He added that the country's updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) on climate action is in its final stages. Alongside its climate efforts, the government has introduced key economic reforms to ensure fiscal stability and create a more investor-friendly environment. He said that the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is playing a central role in attracting foreign direct investment into key sectors of the economy. However, Dar cautioned that national-level efforts alone are insufficient to bridge the global development gap. He stressed the need for deep reforms in the international financial architecture to support SDG implementation, particularly in developing countries. He called for expanded access to concessional and grant-based resources, meaningful debt relief, and increased climate finance to enable countries like Pakistan to meet the financial requirements of sustainable development. Dar referenced the Compromise of Seville, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Finance for Development, describing it as a clear and actionable roadmap. He urged the global community not to delay its implementation any further. As the world marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, Dar said the Secretary-General's UN80 initiative provides a critical opportunity to strengthen the UN's three core pillars—peace, development, and human rights—and to ensure that the SDGs are achieved on time, not just in principle but in practice.


Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business Recorder
Dar reviews FDI landscape
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister/ Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, chaired a meeting of the committee tasked with developing a comprehensive investment portfolio to attract investments from friendly countries. The committee conducted a review of the existing foreign investment landscape and proposed a list of early harvest projects. Discussion focused on identifying strategic areas for collaboration, particularly in the energy, infrastructure, and privatisation sectors. Foreign investments in key sectors discussed Dar directed relevant stakeholders to identify viable investment opportunities and development initiatives that can foster shared prosperity and support sustainable economic growth. Meeting was attended by Minister Petroleum, SAPM Tariq Bajwa, Adviser on Privatisation, NC SIFC, chairman WAPDA, secretaries Petroleum and SIFC, and other senior officials from concerned department. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025


Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business Recorder
Nepra issues pending notifications for KE tariffs
ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has issued pending notifications for K-Electric's (KE) supply, distribution, and transmission tariffs for the period 2023–24 to 2029–30 under the Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) regime, stating that the federal government's pending review motion does not legally restrain the regulator from notifying its earlier determinations. Previously, the federal government was responsible for issuing tariff notifications. However, amid prolonged delays and under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the law was amended in 2021, granting NEPRA the authority to notify tariffs directly. 'It is now the duty of the Authority to issue the requisite notifications of its determinations if the government fails to do so or if any reconsideration request remains pending,' official sources said. Under Rule 31 of the NEPRA Act, the Authority can issue such notifications if the federal government does not act within the specified time. DISCOs and KE: Nepra approves revised average uniform SoT Although the government's review motion is still under consideration, NEPRA clarified that if it revises its previous determinations, the tariffs will be amended accordingly. In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar recently chaired a high-level, confidential meeting to discuss KE's ownership issues involving Al-Jomaih, following a strongly worded letter from Pakistan's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. KE's average power supply tariff has been fixed Rs 39.97 / kWh which includes power purchase excluding transmission cost of Rs 31.96 per unit, transmission cost of Rs 2.86 per unit, distribution cost Rs 3.31 per unit, supply margin Rs 2.28 per unit and Prior Year Adjustment negative Rs 0.44 per unit. The power utility company's total revenue requirement is estimated to be Rs 606.920 billion, for FY 2023-24, of which supply margin will be Rs 34.681 billion, O&M cost Rs 5.91 billion, working capital negative Rs 1.244 billion, recovery loss, Rs 36.253 billion, gross margin Rs 40.921 billion, other income negative Rs 6.240 billion, net margin Rs 34.681 billion and prior year adjustment negative Rs 6.690 billion. The Authority also considering the fact that FY 2023-24 has already lapsed and FY 2024-25 is almost 11 months gone, also obtained ICE's actual recovery ratios for the FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25. As submitted by KE its actual recovery for the FY 2023-24 remained at 91.50%, whereas FY 2024-25 is expected to close at 90.50%. The financial impact of under recovery of 8.50% for FY 2023-24 and 9.50% for FY 2024-25, as reported by KE, is around Rs.40 billion and Rs.57 billion respectively. The Authority noted that return allowed to KE for its distribution function is around Rs.21.6 billion, meaning thereby that effectively KE would be incurring losses for the first 02 years of MYT, if no recovery loss is allowed to KE. This may compromise the financial viability of the company, which is neither in the interest of the consumers nor power system as whole. In another notification NEPRA has approved distribution tariff of Rs 3.31/ kWh and Rs 2.684 / kWh for investment of Rs 43.447 billion during the validity of MYT. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025