Pak govt to import sugar at PKR 220 per kg to avert looming crisis: Report

The Pakistani government has decided to import 1 million metric tonnes of sugar to address the shortage caused by deceptive information provided by sugar mill owners, who falsely claimed that the country had a sufficient domestic stock, as per a media report.

The sugar will be imported at an inflated price of PKR 220 per kilogram, and the burden for it will be borne by the inflation-battered public who will be left with no choice but to buy the commodity at high rates, as reported by Geo News.

The ongoing difficulty comes on the back of sugar mill owners misleading the government, securing permission for export by reassuring that the country has 'sufficient' stock for domestic use. Due to the manipulation, an alarming situation has emerged in the country.

Despite having a carry-forward surplus stock of around 1 million metric tonnes of sugar, the Punjab Food Department has warned of a looming sugar crisis in the near future.

Authorities are now left with the only option of using the surplus stock to mitigate the crisis. However, this action will eventually lead to imported sugar being circulated into the market, compelling consumers to pay PKR 220 per kg for sugar instead of the official rate of PKR 100 per kg.

Meanwhile, 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, the Geo News report said citing sources.