Sugar is an essential commodity in Pakistan, a country where tea is consumed with an unwavering passion, desserts are an integral part of the culture, and sugary snacks are a staple. However, the fluctuation in sugar prices in recent years has left both consumers and producers on a roller-coaster ride of economic uncertainty.
Currently, sugar has completed its double century in parts of the country, and in Quetta, the price of the commodity has reached Rs230 per kg!.
The people who are already facing the worst inflation in the country’s history where edible items are going up, fuel prices are skyrocketing, and the remaining gap is filled by increasing power prices in the country, are now forced to buy sugar at exorbitant rates. One can be shocked easily after witnessing the soaring prices of the sweetener in a country, which is one of the largest producers of sugarcane in the world.
The caretaker prime minister has ordered action against the smuggling of sugar and other items as there were reports about the smuggling of sugar to Afghanistan. Despite the fact, the situation is going out of control of the people.
Meanwhile, amid the exorbitant increase in the price of refined sugar across the country, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), two major coalition partners of the former government are pointing fingers at each other as the sugar prices continue to soar.
PML-N senior leader and former federal minister Ahsan Iqbal said the main reason for the current crises in the country was uncertainty, created by vested interests to fulfill their malicious designs.
The former planning minister further added that the PPP leader and former trade minister Naveed Qamar could better answer any questions about the export of sugar in the past months, and would also be in a better position to tell the nation how much sugar stocks were available for domestic consumption when his ministry allowed its export.
On the other hand, responding to Iqbal’s statement, PPP Sindh General Secretary Senator Waqar Mehdi said that while there was no doubt the PPP had the Ministry of Commerce in the previous coalition government, one should keep in mind that key decisions pertaining to the economic policies were being taken by authorities that belonged to the PML-N.
Both the major parties of the country, rather than accepting the responsibility have started blaming each other. One should take responsibility for the situation, while the caretaker government should take stern action to bring down the prices of sugar.
