ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will import 3 million tonnes of wheat from different countries this year, including Russia, for local consumption and to shore up its reserves, the country’s finance minister said on Thursday.

The imports would be on a government to government basis, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail told journalists at the launching ceremony of the Economic Survey 2021-22.

Economic Survey 2021-22: Miftah hopeful forex reserves will rise to $12bn after China payment

Miftah’s statement comes after he had earlier told CNN in an interview that Islamabad has asked both Russia and Ukraine to sell it wheat, stressing that sanctions on Moscow mean it will be “difficult for him” to imagine buying oil from it.

“We have asked Ukraine and Russia — whichever country can sell us wheat, we’d be happy to buy wheat from them,” said Ismail in response to a question during an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson in May.

Difficult to imagine buying Russian oil at this time: Miftah Ismail