Baghdad - (dpa) - An Iraqi official confirmed that wheat produced locally during the current agricultural season does not meet Iraq's needs, and that it needs to import three million tons to meet the requirements of internal consumption.

Muhammad Hanoun, director of the General Company for Grain Trade, said in a statement to the government newspaper, "Al-Sabah", published in its issue issued today, Wednesday, that "the quantities of wheat expected to be marketed for the current season, which amount to two million tons, are not sufficient to meet the requirements of the ration card, and Iraq needs to import three million tons to plug."

He added that the Ministry of Commerce "is continuing wheat marketing operations in the central and southern governorates of the country, as well as marketing the quantities produced in the Kurdistan region, which have exceeded 300,000 tons so far."

Hanoun stressed that "the approval of the Food Security Law will provide the Ministry with allocations to import three million tons of wheat," pointing out that "food security needs to provide more than five million and 600 thousand tons to ensure that 12 meals are prepared within one year in the ration card."

He revealed "Iraq's need for 460,000 tons of wheat per month for distribution among citizens."

The Iraqi parliament is studying these days a draft law for emergency support for food security and development at a value of 25 trillion Iraqi dinars, after the delay in forming the new Iraqi government after the parliamentary elections that took place last October and thus the inability of the current caretaker government to develop a draft for the federal general budget for the fiscal year. 2022.

According to Iraqi reports, the government has achieved significant financial savings due to the rise in crude oil prices in the global market due to the Russian-Ukrainian war. It is expected that the reserves of the Central Bank of Iraq by the end of this year to 90 billion dollars.