Pak govt to import sugar at PKR 220 per kg to address looming crisis

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The Pakistan government has chosen to import 1 million metric tonnes of sugar to replenish the country’s reduced supply after being deceived by sugar mill owners about a “sufficient” domestic stock, Geo News reported.

The federal government will import sugar at an inflated price of PKR 220 per kilogram, and the burden will be passed on to the population, which is already suffering from inflation and will be forced to pay exorbitant prices, the Geo News said.

The current 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. This has led to the hazardous scenario that exists today, as reported by Geo News.

Even though the Punjab Food Department has a carryover surplus stock of sugar of almost 1 million metric tonnes, a spokeswoman for the department has warned of a potential sugar crisis in the coming days.

The only option left with the authorities is to use the surplus stock to mitigate the problem. However, doing so will eventually result in imported sugar being sold on the market, forcing consumers to pay PKR 220 per kg for sugar rather than the official amount of PKR 100 per kg.

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), according to sources cited by Geo News, has already written to Pakistan’s commercial attaché in Brazil to establish arrangements for the import of 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar from the South American country. (ANI)