This is apropos a Business Recorder news item "Ex-mill ST step taken to forestall sugar price hike" carried by the newspaper yesterday. According to it, the federal cabinet has decided that the implementation of Sales Tax (ST) on sugar will be at ex-mill price till 30 Nov 2021 in order to forestall hike in sugar prices.

This step will somehow help the government check the sugar prices. But this is hardly any solution. Hoarding and short supplies of essential items in particular in market suddenly cause spike in prices. Smuggling is another challenge in this regard. The government is, therefore, required to rein in hoarders of goods, curb smuggling and ensure uninterrupted supplies of sugar and other essential items.

Farid Usmani (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021