Exporting sugar

Letter December 19, 2022
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LAHORE:

In the past, Pakistan has exported surplus sugar, only to import it later at higher international market prices. Even when Pakistan faces its worst economic crisis, with the possibility of default and an escalating debt crisis haunting the country, the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) is once again pressuring the government to allow sugar export. The Economic Coordination group has already approved the export of sugar.

Special interest groups and vested interests of a few more powerful than the state seem to prevail as they have for decades in this country. Besides one group that refused to blackmail the government, the sugar cartel refused to buy sugar cane from farmers unless they were permitted to export sugar, which they claimed to be in surplus. The sugar mills owned by foundations that enjoy tax exemption should not have joined this cartel, which refused to buy sugarcane from farmers. Earlier, the federal government had said that sugarcane-producing areas were severely affected by the floods because of which sugar production would drop by at least 25%. During the over three-year PTI rule, and even during the tenure of their predecessors, those in government approved export based on PSMA’s claims of surplus production.

The PDM parties, including PPP and PML-N, had launched a campaign against PTI. But this was when floods had not ravaged crops. At a time when Pakistan faces the prospect of default and food shortages following the flood devastation, the public expected that national interest would prevail over the greed of a few. But alas! This is what happens when individuals with split loyalties are allowed to hold elected and paid public offices where the fate and destiny of over 225 million Pakistanis are decided.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2022.

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