ECC approved the ban on sugar exports, and proposal for import of sugar was delayed

The Cabinet's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved the ban on sugar exports, while the proposal for import of sugar was delayed.

A meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee chaired by Advisor Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was held.

According to a statement from the Finance Division, during the meeting briefed by the Ministry of Industry and Production regarding the current situation of the sugar supply in the country it was stated that "there are plenty of sugar reserves in the country but in the domestic and international markets Is seeing an increase in prices. "

The committee approved a ban on the export of sugar in order to stabilize prices in the local market, but the import proposal for sugar could not be approved.

The ECC said that if sugar reserves are low in the country, the proposal for exemption in tariffs and taxes on import and import thereof will be reconsidered.

Committee members agreed that because there are sufficient sugar reserves in the country, there is no concrete reason for its import at this time.

The committee was informed during the briefing that Sugar Mills currently has more than 17 million tonnes of sugar reserves.
The ECC directed the Ministry of Industry and Production to speak to the provincial governments to control the price of sugar in the country as it is a provincial matter.

It should be noted that a few days ago, Prime Minister Imran Khan banned Chinese exports to control prices in the local market and allowed the private sector to import 300 million tonnes.

However, the decision was to be implemented after the approval of the Economic Coordination Committee.

Official sources said that the Prime Minister approved the summary before going into the matter in the ECC so that the export of 300,000 tonnes of sugar could be stopped immediately and 300 million tonnes of sugar could be imported through the private sector.

According to official data, between July and December 2019, Pakistan exported one lakh 41 thousand 447 metric tons of sugar.

Considering that sugar prices had started rising for the last two months, the government did not pay enough attention to the issue which benefited the consumers.

An increase of one rupee per kg in sugar means a profit of Rs 5 billion 10 crores from consumers.

Annual sugar consumption locally ranges from 51 million metric tons to 60 million metric tons.