It is puzzling why a state institution would try and profit in this manner.
LAHORE: The price of sugar is well over Rs100 a kilo now and all because the of the ineptitude of the government and particularly the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) which failed to offload its stocks into the market at the opportune time – so as to keep the price of the commodity steady and prevent it from rising. Instead, the TCP invited bids, every week, for 10,000 tons of the commodity and sold its stock to the highest bidder. It is puzzling why a state institution, whose task is primarily to provide stability to markets for essential items, would try and profit in this manner.
It would be fair to say that the TCP’s action have, in fact, contributed to the soaring price of sugar that prevails in the country presently. Clearly, the shortage in the market for sugar has been artificially created. In this the sugar mill owners also have a role because the All Pakistan Sugar Mills Association is now saying that it cannot crush cane because its stocks have been exhausted.
So who suffers in the end as a result of all these shenanigans? The ordinary consumer — who will now have to pay through his nose for what is an essential food item.
Engr. S T Hussain
Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2010.
