The federal government has decided to set up stalls across the country to sell sugar at Rs130 per kilogramme.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the Sugar Advisory Board, chaired by Federal Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain.
The meeting, attended by PSMA, provincial secretaries and cane commissioners, approved the establishment of municipal-level stalls starting three days before Ramazan until the 27th of Ramazan.
Sugar will be available in one- and two-kilogramme packets, with a purchase limit of 5kg per person upon presenting a national identity card.
Federal ministers and chief secretaries will oversee the stalls to ensure consumers receive sugar at an affordable price.
The meeting came as speculative trade in sugar has begun pushing prices of the sweetener up even before the arrival of Ramazan and during the sugarcane crushing season.
Sugar prices have registered a Rs12 per kg increase during the last week in city markets as a 50kg bag of the commodity in the local market has reached Rs7,400 after an increase of Rs600.
According to the report, the price of sugar per kilogramme in the wholesale market has increased from Rs136 to Rs148, while it is being sold at Rs150 per kg by retailers.
Usually, rates of the sweetener come down during the crushing season. But this season the situation is contrary and rates are going up though the crushing season is in full swing.
In December 2024, the ex-mill rate of sugar was Rs125 per kg, but it has now jumped to Rs140 to 143, says a spokesperson for the Sugar Dealers Association. He says that the ex-mill rate for February is being pitched at Rs145.
He says export of sugar and artificial shortage of the commodity is responsible for the price hike. He fears that if the situation is not controlled, there is a risk that the price of sugar will go up further in the month of Ramazan.
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