Govt to import sugar for Rs220 per kg amid rising prices
Last updated on: 31 August,2023 03:21 pm
More exports than domestic demand responsible for crisis
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Pakistan has decided to import one million metric tonnes of sugar to tackle the shortage in the country after the millers made a false promise of sufficient domestic stock.
And the burden would be transferred to the inflation-battered public, as the federal government will import sugar at an inflated price of Rs220 per kilogramme.
The precarious situation is a result of sugar mill owners misleading the government, securing permission for export by reassuring that the country has 'sufficient' stock for domestic use.
A spokesperson for the Punjab Food Department has warned of a possible sugar crisis in the coming days despite having a carry-forward surplus stock of sugar of around 1 million metric tonnes.
To mitigate the situation, authorities have no choice but to utilise the surplus stock. However, doing so will eventually lead to imported sugar being circulated in the market and the consumers will be forced to purchase sugar at Rs220 per kg instead of the official rate of Rs100 per kg.
Meanwhile, sources said that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has already written to Pakistan's commercial attache in Brazil to make arrangements for the import of 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar from the South American nation.