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ISLAMABAD: According to former finance minister Ishaq Dar, the rise in sugar prices is not a result of stock market performance rather it is a result of “exploitative policies of unscrupulous businesses and poor governance.”
Dar reveals reason behind ‘rising sugar prices’: The former finance minister pleaded with users of X (previously Twitter) “not to raise false alarm over existing sugar stocks of 2.3 million metric tonnes.”
Ishaq Dar posted on X, “There is no need for spreading false alarm over existing sugar reserves of 2.3 million metric tonnes, as the next crushing season will begin only 2.5 months from now, on November 16 2023.
The PML-N leader claims that the nation consumes just over half a million metric tonnes of sugar per month and that the starting stock at the start of the new crushing season in mid-Nov. 23 will be close to one million metric tonnes.
Thus, he noted, the rise in sugar’s retail pricing is not a reflection of stock position, “but exploitative policies of unscrupulous businesses and poor governance”.
Ishaq Dar asserted that the PDM-led government had approved the export of a quarter million metric tonnes of sugar following proper review by the necessary authorities and institutions of the “then opening stock, crushing results, national consumption, and maintenance of strategic reserve of sugar.”
It was decid, as per Dar, to contribute $125 million to the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
It is important to note that the wholesale cost of sugar in Pakistan has risen to a record-breaking Rs163 per kilogramme.
A 1-kilogram pack of sugar is currently selling out in the wholesale market for Rs 163, according to a statement from the Wholesale Grocers Association.
The cost of the goods at retail varies from Rs 170 to Rs 180 per kilogramme.
Even at high prices, sugar is not available to wholesalers, according to Rauf Ibrahim, the chairman of the Wholesale Grocers Association. The price of sugar may surpass Rs 200 per kilogramme if the increase persists.
ECC forbids exporting sugar
In the meanwhile, the federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) resolved to halt sugar exports.
The committee voted to forbid the export of sugar. The ECC had cleared the summary to export 32,000 metric tonnes of sugar in June prior to this choice.
In light of the nation’s escalating sugar prices, the decision was made, as per sources.
Import of 100,000 MT of sugar
Earlier in the day, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) reportedly opted to buy 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar at a price of Rs 220 per kilogram.
According to sources within the Food Department, the division is now importing more sugar priced at Rs 220 per kg while maintaining a surplus stock of 1 million tonnes of sugar.
According to sources, the Food Department will have to use its sugar reserves, which reduces the surplus stockpiles, in order to put imported sugar into the market and affect consumer prices.
Sources indicate that individuals will have to pay an additional Rs 120 when purchasing government-subsidized sugar, priced at Rs 220 per kilogram, which is currently subsidized at Rs 100 per kg.