ISLAMABAD, May 22: Pakistan will go ahead with its plans to export 1.3 million tons of wheat this season despite a surge in domestic prices, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

“The amount of wheat allowed for export will be sold abroad. There will be no change,” Mohammad Ismail Qureshi, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, told Reuters, referring to the 1.3 million tons.

“We have done enough procurement and domestic prices can be controlled with that if required,” he said.

But Qureshi added the government would have to decide about additional wheat exports.

The government last month allowed export of 500,000 tons of wheat in the hope of making inroads into the lucrative Indian market.

The decision came after reports that the country's wheat harvest for the current 2006-07 crop year would cross the target of 22.5 million tons.

The government previously also allowed exports of 800,000 tons of wheat by private traders and also removed a 15 per cent duty on exports.

Pakistani traders have already sold about 150,000 tons of the amount earmarked for export to Southeast Asian countries for May and June shipments, according to industry officials.

The deals were finalised at about $230-$240 a ton, including cost and freight, for shipment in containers.

Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia have bought the bulk of the cargoes, traders said.

Traders said Pakistani exporters were also looking for buyers in India and the Middle East.

—Reuters