Wassan blames Centre for expensive sugar

Sugar stock has been available for one-and-a-half months, but federal government exported cheap sugar, adds Wassan

KARACHI:

Sindh Chief Minister's Adviser on Agriculture Manzoor Wassan held the federal government responsible for increasing sugar prices in the country.

He said there was no sugar crisis in Sindh. "Here, the stock of sugar has been available for one-and-a-half months, but the federal government exported cheap sugar on the pretext of a surplus."

Wassan said the rising sugar crises in Punjab and K-P made the commodity more expensive. He continued that Sindh has a stock of 92.8 million metric tonnes of sugar. Despite this, he claimed, the Imran government had failed to control inflation and sugar was being made more expensive by "mafias who have been funding the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Read More: Sugar price shoots up to Rs160 per kilo

He acknowledged that ghee, oil and lentils are expensive because they are imported, but failed to understand why local-produced commodities, such as flour and sugar, are so pricey

Wassan revealed that that sugar mills of Sindh would start operating from next week and legal action would be taken against owners who do not run their factories. "Punjab has fixed the per capita support price of sugarcane at Rs225 and Sindh at Rs250. The PPP has given higher per capita support price of sugarcane and wheat to farmers compare to Punjab."

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2021.