Federal Minister for Finance & Revenue, Shaukat Tarin stated on Friday that the production of sugar in the country is expected to increase by two million tons from last year to 7.5 million tons.
In a tweet, he explained that Pakistan was back to being a sugar surplus country after a period of deficit. He added, “Ex-mill sugar prices are now around Rs 81/kg substantially lower from last year.”
The Finance Minister’s tweet comes a little over a month after the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Federal Cabinet in February gave its nod to building strategic reserves of sugar in order to avoid price variation and related increases in the future.
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Earlier on Friday, Spokesperson Finance Ministry, Muzammil Aslam said on Twitter that Pakistan’s sugar output has increased to 7.5 million tons, representing a 36.3 percent rise over last year’s total of 5.4 million tons.
To recall, sugar prices soared to Rs.160 per kilogram in different parts of the country, but the recent surge in production has helped bring the inflated prices down to comfortable levels. The wheat prices have also been consistent for more than a year according to the Finance Minister’s spokesperson.
