Minister refutes US ambassador's remarks on Iraq's need to import wheat

Shafaq News/ Iraq does not plan to import wheat this year as the nation has stockpiles large enough to last seven months with expectations for a bumper harvest, Trade Minister Atheer Dawood said in an interview.

His comments follow a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook late last month by US Ambassador Alina Romanowski that Iraq would need to import more than 3 million tons of the grain over the next year to meet local demand.

Dawood told Bloomberg News that the country has 2 million tons in reserves and is set to start this year’s harvest season by April as usual. Output is anticipated to be better than last year, he added.

"Our grain position is perfect," he said while attending the Baghdad International Fair Saturday night. "There's no need for import."

The Iraqi trade ministry is in charge of distributing subsidized basic food items to millions of Iraqis in order to keep prices under control while the government buys wheat at higher prices to help farmers. The country's annual consumption of wheat under the state-subsidized food program is roughly 4.5 million to 5 million tons.