UPDATE 1-Pakistan may import 1.5 mln tonnes wheat

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ISLAMABAD, April 23 (Reuters) - Pakistan may import up to 1.5 million tonnes of wheat to meet its stocks and domestic needs, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said on Wednesday.

The government has decided to build a 5-million-tonne strategic reserve from the 2007-2008 crop, Rehman added.

"It will be done locally...urgent planning is also being done to import between one to 1.5 million tonnes," Rehman told a news conference after a cabinet meeting.

She said a government committee will finalise the import target in a couple of days.

Pakistan has set a wheat production target of 24 million tonnes for the 2007/08 financial year, but farmers and food ministry officials say that target is impossible to achieve.

Industry officials said last month lower-than-expected output may force the government to import between 1 million and 2 million tonnes for stocks and domestic needs.

Pakistan produced 23.3 million tonnes of wheat in the 2006/07 crop year and had to import nearly 1.6 million tonnes after a surge in wheat and flour prices in the domestic market.

The south Asian country of 160 million people consumes about 22 million tonnes of wheat a year. (Reporting by Kamran Haider; writing by Zeeshan Haider, Editing by Augustine Anthony and Peter Blackburn)