Karachi/lahore/rawalpindi:
Despite repeated government repressions, severe warnings and price controls, the sugar crisis has deepened the main cities, leaving consumers throughout the country fighting for the essential sweetener.
From Karachi to Rawalpindi and Lahore, retail prices have shot up to RS205 per kg, while merchants, they fear fines and raids, have begun to reject sugar sales to unknown customers.
A worsening of the sugar crisis continues to grab Punjab, with prices up to RS205 per kg and a serious shortage reported in the main urban centers, including Rawalpindi and Lahore.
In Rawalpindi and Islamabad, merchants have stopped selling sugar to customers or new customers due to the fear of strong fines, store closures and arrests by local authorities.
According to the Kiryana Merchants Association, the ex-molin price led by the Government of RS165 per kg was not yet implemented in the open market, where sugar continues to be sold at RS200 per kg.
Meanwhile, retailers complain that they are trapped between increasing wholesale prices and aggressive repressions by the district administration. “We still have to receive sugar at the official RS165 rate per kg,” said a spokesman for the Kiryana Association, and added that only 1,800 sugar bags were supplied to the distributors last week, well below the demand.
The district administration reported that only in the last 24 hours, 121 merchants were fined by overvalues, with sanctions for a total of RS350,000. Eight stores were sealed and five merchants were arrested.
Meanwhile, in Lahore and other parts of Punjab, sugar prices have increased far beyond the official RS173 rate per kg. In many areas, sugar is now sold between RS200 and RS205 per kg.
Factory owners, sugar dealers and retailers indicate the fingers with each other for high prices and hoarding, even when all three seem to benefit, while common consumers fight to find sugar at official fees.
