The Commerce Ministry has approved Trading Corporation of Pakistan's (TCP) sugar sale plan and asked it to enter the market from September 15. An official privy to the decision told Business Recorder on Friday that the government feels that TCP's intervention was inevitable to stabilise sugar prices ahead of holy month of Ramazan.
He said that surge in sugar prices in the open market was a cause of concern for the government, and TCP would be instrumental to seize this trend.
The government is monitoring sugar rates on daily basis. It has been conducting survey of 13 major cities on regular basis for the last two months and monitoring sugar rates.
The survey reports are being circulated to concerned ministries/ divisions and provinces on weekly basis.
These reports indicate that sugar prices are on the rise across the country for the last one and half months and the same trend may continue in the weeks to come if adequate measures were not taken immediately. These reports also suggest to the provincial governments that they should have check on the sugar rates so that its availability could be ensured to the consumers. The cities, which have been picked up for sugar price survey include Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Fasialabad, Hyderabad, Quetta, Kasur, Multan and Larkana.
Following ECC direction, the TCP had submitted its sugar sale plan to the Ministry of Commerce. The issue was discussed in a meeting of the Ministry, which was presided over by Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar and attended by TCP Chairman Masood Alam Rizvi and other concerned officials.
The plan is based on two-pronged strategy. The TCP has buffer stock of 500,000 tons sugar in hand.
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