Pakistan will receive 10 ships of edible oil from Indonesia and Malaysia in the next two weeks. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) revealed the news.
According to details, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had a telephonic conversation with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on June 10 last. On the directive of the prime minister, a Pakistani delegation also visited Indonesia and held successful talks with the Indonesian Ministry of commerce for the provision of palm oil to Pakistan.
Read more: Indonesia-Pakistan to sign free trade agreement?
As a result, Indonesia will supply a total of 0.25 million metric tons of edible oil to Pakistan. The first ship carrying 30,000 metric tons of edible oil from Indonesia will leave for Pakistan today.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made great strides in supplying edible oil to the people. Brotherly country Indonesia will immediately supply palm oil to Pakistan,” the PMO tweet said.
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Food crisis soon in Pakistan?
This is indeed welcoming news for Pakistan which is facing a shortage of edible oil. According to media reports, in May, Pakistan only had 20 days worth of palm oil stock. Moreover, Indonesia suspended exports of palm oil on April 28 to cater to domestic oil prices. However, Malaysia, another supplier of palm oil, is still exporting, which has the lowest ratio in the supply of palm oil to the world market.
Nevertheless, Indonesia’s imposition of a ban on the export of palm oil created uncertainty in the palm oil market, with prices showing an upward trend. Therefore, prices of cooking oil prices increased in Pakistan. Earlier this month, the government raised the prices of ghee and cooking oil by an unprecedented Rs208 and Rs213 respectively.
Read more: Govt raises cooking oil price by Rs 213
Separately, the prices of fertilizer also increased, sparking fears that Pakistan may be heading towards a food shortage. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan said the present government began raising prices of everyday essentials upon coming into power. He warned of a food security crisis in the country if no attention was paid to the condition of farmers.