PM airs concern over inaccurate sugar data

Says smuggling has been stopped which stabilised prices of sweetener

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed serious concern over the inaccurate data of sugar stocks provided by the ministries concerned.

Sources told The Express Tribune that in a recent meeting of the cabinet, the prime minister expressed displeasure at the inaccurate data of sugar inventory, which could have led to wrong decisions.

The premier remarked that it was quite disconcerting that the data provided by the sugar mills association turned out to be correct while the statistics received from the ministries contained errors.

However, the PM noted with satisfaction that due to timely decision-making and continuous monitoring by the government, it became possible to allow export of 690,000 metric tons of sugar and bring much-needed foreign exchange without any increase in domestic sugar prices.

He told the cabinet that smuggling across the western border had been completely stopped with the assistance of Pakistan Army, which proved very helpful in stabilising domestic prices. The PM also highlighted the recent positive developments on the economic front. In that regard, he mentioned that the year-on-year inflation further dropped to 4.9% in November, the lowest in six and a half years and down from 7.2% in October, as reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

He expressed optimism that the decline in inflation would not only pave the way for further cuts in the State Bank of Pakistan's policy rate, but would also provide a significant relief to the people of Pakistan, particularly the low-income groups.

He pointed out that the violent incidents in Islamabad on November 26, led by a provincial chief minister, created chaos and uncertainty as well as caused serious embarrassment to Pakistan internationally.

In addition, the lives of law enforcement officers were lost and the stock market experienced a meltdown, suffering its largest single-day decline of nearly 4,000 points. Moreover, businesses were shut down, factories were closed, and trade, commerce, and exports were disrupted. He noted that the government successfully ended the protest, which allowed the KSE-100 index to bounce back.

The PM stressed that it was crucial to focus on stability and sustained economic growth through strategies aimed at expanding exports, remittances, production, industrial development, employment opportunities and technological advancement. He stated that those objectives could be achieved through synergy between government institutions and collaboration with the private sector.

However, he expressed concern over the shortfall in Federal Board of Revenue's (FBR) targets, despite the increase in revenue collection. He underlined the need for greater efforts from the FBR chairman and directed him to ensure the collection of targeted revenues by deploying competent officers across the country.

Sharif commented that due to the reckless speech of a former minister about fake degrees, a ban had been imposed on PIA's European routes, which became very damaging for the country. He lauded the painstaking efforts made by the federal minister for aviation and his team, which resulted in the resumption of PIA flights to Europe. He stated that the ban was one of the main reasons for the low bids received for the airline in the privatisation process.

The minister for commerce apprised the cabinet that Uzbekistan Airlines had started operating flights to Pakistan and expressed hope that flight operations to the UK and the US would also resume soon. He stated that the issue with the US was related more to security than pilots' degrees and suggested that the matter should be addressed at the government-to-government level.

The PM gave directives that the best entrepreneurs of the country should be invited to participate in PIA's privatisation process to work out a model in line with the one used during the privatisation of banks.