5,000 tonnes of sugar to be imported

The federal govt has decided to sell imported sugar at Rs65 per kg in a bid to end hoarding, decrease sugar prices.

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to import 5,000 tonnes of sugar and sell it for Rs65 per kilogram to end hoarding and to decrease sugar prices.

The decision was taken during a high level meeting in Islamabad with Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik in chair. The meeting decided that shopkeepers in the federal capital will be asked to sell sugar between Rs71 and 72 per kilogram.

It was also decided that sugar price in the country will be brought down to Rs85 per kg from the current Rs126 per kg.

The Interior Minister asked Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to submit a report on sugar hoarding by November 15. He said hoarders should bring their stocks into the market otherwise action will be taken against them.

The Lahore High Court had also issued notices and sought detailed reports from the Federal and Punjab governments following the sugar price hikes, on Friday.

Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed expressed concern over the sugar mafia’s involvement in the inflated sugar prices, and said that if sugar hoarding was the cause of it, then “the government should take needful legal action under the anti-hoarding laws against those involved”.