Pakistan’s Palm Oil Import Bill Reaches $3.8 Billion, Government Prepares Two-Phase Strategy to Boost Local Production and Save Billions
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s annual expenditure on imported edible oil has skyrocketed to $3.8 billion and the Federal Government has announced a new two-phase strategic plan which aims to drastically reduce the cost of imported edible oil and increase agricultural production in the country.
Official documents from the Ministry of National Food Security indicate that the main purpose of this initiative is to cut reliance on imported cooking oil, and to actively promote production of cooking oil using indigenous agricultural resources.
The Plan details the short-term plan (2026-2031) and the projected savings.
The first step is to implement a short-term plan that would benefit the domestic production of oilseed crops, such as sunflower, canola, rapeseed, sesame and soybean, in the period from 2026 to 2031.
In this short-term regime, it is estimated that the country will save Rs967 billion of import bills, apart from the broader economic benefits.
Ten-Year Long-Term Plan and Oilseed Policy Proposals
The second part of the strategy includes the development of a long term plan of 10 years to gradually increase in size the arable land available for oilseed production. The long term roadmap is projecting more than Rs7 billion worth of import substitution benefits and is estimated to create economic activity valued at Rs1,965 billion.
A target of up to 2 million tonnes for sunflower production has been set, as per the documents of the policy. In addition, the inclusion of import restrictions of up to 40 percent regulatory duty of edible oil is being considered under the National Oilseed Policy.
Official statistics indicate that Pakistan’s food and consumable imports worth exceed $7 billion in a year, and among them importation of edible oil is a huge burden.