CAIRO, Apr 22 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's government so far bought around 120,000 tonnes of wheat from local farmers, after one week of the start of the procurement season of local wheat, the supply minister said on Wednesday. 

At the end of the season, which lasts for three months, Minister Khaled Hanafi expects the government to have received 3.7 million tonnes of wheat, a ministry statement said.  

This expectation will be an increase by around 100,000 tonnes of wheat, compared to last year.   

The wheat will be used to make subsidised bread, the statement read. 

The minster reiterated that all obstacles facing suppliers will be removed in order to receive all of the supplied wheat.

The government has set aside $10 billion Egyptian pounds to pay suppliers, once the wheat is received and sorted. 

Egypt is the world's largest importer of wheat, according to Reuters. Imports in the first half of the ongoing fiscal year 2014/15,were worth $1.15 billion, according to central bank figures.