ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has imposed a 20 per cent import duty on wheat to prop up domestic producers, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

“The 20 percent regulatory duty has been imposed to promote local crops. The duty applies to wheat imports from all countries for the current crop season,” said Saeed Javed, a spokesman for Pakistan's Finance Ministry.

“The regulatory duty has been imposed to discourage wheat imports.” Pakistani importers made a series of large wheat imports this summer following a disappointing local harvest that had pushed up the prices of domestically sourced wheat.

“Pakistan was out of the global export market this year and a series of very large import purchases put local wheat prices under pressure,” said one European trader involved in exports to Pakistan.

“So much was imported that some deals were later cancelled. Low local prices are naturally bad news for farmers and any government has to decide who to please, consumers in the towns with low prices or farmers with high prices,” the trader said.

The trader said an import duty causing higher wheat prices would encourage farmers to plant more wheat, and a larger harvest could enable Pakistan to re-enter the wheat export market.