Islamabad/Lahore:
The Government and the sugar industry have reached an agreement, establishing the former sugar mill price in RS165 per kilogram, the National Ministry of Security and Food Research announced Monday.
“All provincial governments will guarantee the availability of cheap sugar to the public in the light of this decision,” said a brief statement issued by the Ministry.
Last week, the PML-N directed the Federal Government approved the import of half a million tons of sugar in an attempt to maintain affordable prices of the merchandise.
“The Committee approved the import of up to 500,000 metric tons of sugar to guarantee a stable supply and maintain affordable prices throughout the country,” said a statement published in X.
In March, Vice Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said that retail prices should not exceed RS164 rupees after the Pakistan Competition Commission (PCC) warned sugar factories against price manipulation.
Giving said that according to news reports, there was an increase in sugar prices to RS178-179, which, “was obviously not tolerable” for the prime minister.
In Lahore, sugar is currently being sold at arbitrary prices, which range between RS190 and RS210 per kg. Citizens complain that sugar is not available anywhere in the city at the official rate: RS180 per kg.
Since last Friday, Sindh and Punjab sugar factories have stopped the sugar supply to the markets, said the president of the Association of Major Compilers Rouf Ibrahim.
He said that with the supply suspended during the last four days, only stored sugar is currently sold in Karachi, which makes wholesale prices increase from RS178-180 to RS182 per kg and retail prices from RS190-195 to RS200 per kg.
Ibrahim criticized the government’s lack of interest in taking energetic measures against sugar factories and hoarders, warning that this negligence is feeding price increases.
According to the sources, a collusion among sugar factories is the root cause behind the increase in prices. This powerful poster has historically pressed the government to allow exports under the appearance of surplus existence, which increases national prices.
Between 2015 and 2020, 2,355 million metric tons of sugar to Afghanistan were exported. However, Afghan government data confirm that only 1.5 million tons were received. 778,000 metric tons were smuggled, without records for this volume.
In recent years, 26 mills benefited from thousands of millions in subsidies to export 400,000 metric tons of sugar. The documents show that sugar factories extracted RS4.12 billion in subsidies until 2021.
In March, the price was established in RS140 per kg. After exporting 750,000 tons, it increased to RS170 per kg. Then, the government increased the ex -mill price in RS20, but sugar crossed RS200/kg in the markets. In response, the government decided to import 500,000 tons of sugar.
However, the IMF conditions after 2021 prohibited subsidies in sugar exports. The government can now subsidize the industry or set the minimum sugarcane prices, since the IMF requires complete deregulation of the sugar sector.
