KARACHI: Finance Ministry Spokesperson Muzammil Aslam has said that the reason behind sugar price increases is political as everyone knows who owns most of the sugar mills in the country.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Muzammil Aslam said that despite having a bumper sugarcane crop, some players in the sugar food chain are playing political games.
He said that increase in demand for sugar and delay in crushing of sugarcane pushed the price of the commodity up. He said the government has sugar stock for 22 days but the Sindh government is not asking the Centre for cheap sugar nor is it starting crushing of sugarcane.
He stated that the sugar price is a provincial matter and because of that the Punjab government raided several warehouses which were hoarding sugar which reduced the price of the essential commodity. He said that the Sindh government on the other hand did not take any such action and is just busy blaming the federal government for the hike.
The spokesperson also said that crushing in Punjab will start from November 15 while one vessel would also be berthed in a couple of days carrying 40,000 metric tonnes of sugar. So far, during the current fiscal year, the government has imported 157,827 tonnes of sugar despite having adequate stocks.
He said that the daily requirement of sugar per day is around 15,000 tonnes while the country has a stock of 130,000 metric tonnes.
He said that on one hand Punjab and federal governments are doing their utmost to control rising sugar prices, but on the other, the Sindh government has taken no concrete steps in this regard.
In Punjab, crackdowns have started and the price has been reduced by Rs10 per kilogram while the Sindh government is silent on the price increase. He also said the federal government is ready to release sugar for the Sindh government if the need arises.
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