Sweet spot

With inflation crossing 11%, most household budgets have gone awry. While the prices of almost all food items, especially foodgrains and cereals, have risen sharply in the past 10 years, sugar prices have remained relatively stable. Here’s how:

Then: The price of sugar in the open market was Rs 15-16 per kg in 1998

Now: It now costs Rs 20-22 a kg, a rise of 35%in 10 years

Then: If the price of sugar keeps rising at the same rate, a kg may cost you Rs 27-30 in 2018

The relative stability in the price of sugar, an essential commodity of everyday use, has a lot to do with the freeing of sugar imports. Whenever a shortage threatens to raise sugar prices in the domestic market, imports flow in to fulfil the demand.