Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that the country has sufficient wheat stocks, and he will not allow its private import to save “precious foreign exchange”, according to his office.

Sharif also said in Islamabad at National Flood Response Coordination Centre meeting, “Federal government will import wheat at low prices and ensure its provision to the provinces,” Sharif’s statement came a day after European traders said that a government agency in Pakistan had issued a new international tender to purchase and import 500,000 tonnes of wheat.

Economists say, Pakistan will have to explore all options to raise and save on its foreign exchange reserves, which have fallen to around one month of imports that consist primarily of oil and gas purchases.