- Govt sets the retail price at RS164 per kg, but prices are increasing.
- The national average price remains at RS168.8 per kg since March 27.
- The country exports 757,597 metric tonnes in seven months of FY25.
During the last fortnight, the retail price of sugar has on average RS168.8 per kilogram, exceeding the ceiling prescribed by the government of RS164 per kg, despite official attempts to stabilize the market, as revealed by data from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The news said that the Dar-foreign minister and Minister of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday chaired a high-level inter-ministerial meeting to combat price volatility and rationalize supply chains.
He reiterated government’s commitment to structural reforms aimed at ensuring market stability and long -term economic resilience. The government had set the retail price to RS164 per kg and the rates of ex-daughters below RS159 per kg on March 19. However, open market prices remain high, varying between RS170 and RS180 per kg.
PBS figures show that the average national price of sugar has remained stable at Rs168.8 per kg since March 27. Prices have increased sharply since the end of November, when the sugar exchanged at RS131.85 per kg.
The increase occurs despite the promises of sweets to maintain prices less than RS140 per kg. Instead, interior supply pressures have intensified while Pakistan exported 757,597 tonnes of sugar worth $ 407 million in the first seven months of the fiscal year.
In January alone, sugar exports totaled 124,793 tonnes worth $ 64.34 million. In Ramadan, the price went to Rs185 per kilo.
Finally, the government had to take place and conclude an agreement to fix the price of raw materials to Rs164 per kg for a month. Now, from April, there are apprehensions that prices could increase on the domestic market.
According to the draft proposal prepared by the Ministry of Industry for re -export, with an average annual production of 6.150 million tonnes, Pakistan is the seventh producer of sugar in the world. The sugar industry is part of the large manufacturing sector and has shown significant growth in the past ten years, stressing its importance for the Pakistani economy.