Wheat reserves cover 18 months despite Hormuz, deputy minister says

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s strategic food reserves are holding despite the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with wheat stocks covering more than 18 months, Deputy Trade Minister Sattar al-Jabiri said.

“The strategic reserve is available under these difficult circumstances, with the Strait of Hormuz closed, but the Ministry of Trade has worked on new routes to secure the food basket,” he told the Iraqi News Agency. Stocks of some commodities would last several months, wheat more than 18, and supplies were still arriving at ministry warehouses. Iraq plans eight food basket distributions this year, the same as last year, and there are no shortages: “There is no shortage and no increase at the present time.”

The food basket is distributed through the Public Distribution System, the ration card programme introduced in the 1990s, providing subsidised flour, rice, sugar and cooking oil. The government has reinstated a monthly income threshold of 1.5 million dinars for eligibility and is updating beneficiary records through digital registration.

Iraq exported about 526,000 barrels of crude a day in May and June against roughly 3.3 million before the war, and oil provides more than 90% of federal revenue.