LAHORE: Former Punjab food minister, Samiullah Chaudhry has reportedly told the media that he exported wheat on the orders of then Federal Finance Minister Asad Umer, on Tuesday.
The former minister said, “Asad Umar as federal finance minister had chaired a high-level meeting in Islamabad early last year and asked for exporting some of the wheat stocks, 7.2 million tonnes in Punjab at that time. I opposed the move because the government would have to offer subsidy for the export.”
According to Samiullah, on his opposition to the decision, the federal minister maintained that, “I said the country could not afford to give the subsidy and suggested rather selling out the same stocks in the local market.”
The minister asked the FIA to include the point that Islamabad and KP were provided with subsidized products on the money and finances of Punjab government.
He also termed the FIA report as partial and one-sided.
