TEHRAN- Despite the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Iran is supplied with the strategic amount of basic commodities, according to an official with Government Trading Corporation (GTC).

Hojat Barati, the GTC’s director general for distribution and sales, told IRNA on Monday, “Our strategic storage of these goods is even more than domestic need and there is no concern in this due”.

Government Trading Corporation is in charge of regulatory control in the markets of basic goods such as wheat, sugar, and rice, the official said.

On Sunday, Amir Talebi, the acting director of GTC’s foreign trade department, announced that Iran’s import of basic goods has risen by 2.5 folds in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19).

Amir Talebi said that last year most of the basic commodities imported via ports were unloaded directly from vessels to the trains which reduced the cost and time of transportation significantly.

“Our duty is supplying the basic goods required in the country and to do so we are constantly monitoring and investigating the markets to purchase these goods in the best condition”, Talebi noted.

The official said that over two million tons of rice, oil, and sugar have been imported to the country in the past year, some of which has been distributed and some has been stored.

MA/MA