Miftah orders ‘speedy’ import of edible oil

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Saturday directed authorities concerned to expedite the process for edible oil imports from Malaysia and Indonesia to ensure a smooth supply of the commodity.

A meeting of the committee on edible oil, chaired by Mr Miftah, was briefed by Secretary Industries and Production that sufficient stocks of the commodity were available and with the arrival of two edible oil tankers this month the stock position will further improve and help stabilise domestic prices.

The meeting was also informed that Industries Minister Syed Murtaza Mahmud was leaving for Jakarta to hold talks with Indonesian authorities on the import of edible oil.

The representatives of the Vanaspati Manufacturers Association were asked to bring down prices to facilitate the common man.

Provisional estimates of local production of edible oil during the first nine months of the outgoing fiscal year have been estimated at 0.460 million tonnes, whereas the total availability of edible oil during this period is estimated at 3.214m tonnes.

During this period, 2.754m tonnes of edible oil and oil for crushing with a total value of Rs662.657 billion ($3.681bn) was imported.