ISLAMABAD, March 30: Egypt has lifted the ban on import of wheat from Pakistan this year. A senior food ministry official told NNI on Saturday that the removal of the ban by Egypt was a major breakthrough for Pakistan as it would help dispose of surplus wheat this year.

He said Pakistan could market there at least 200,000 to 300,000 tons of wheat this year. The official said that in 2002 Pakistan would have more than one million tons of surplus wheat that could be exported to various countries. He said Dubai, Iraq, Egypt, Afghanistan and Syria were major buyers of Pakistani wheat.—NNI