The government has to pay a record-breaking amount to import sugar. For Utility Stores, the federal government imported sugar that was the ...

 The government has to pay a record-breaking amount to import sugar.

For Utility Stores, the federal government imported sugar that was the "most expensive" ever imported.

The Express Tribune reported on Monday that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has imported 28,760 metric tonnes of sugar into the nation. When it came time to buy the sugar at the port, the TCP shelled out Rs109.90 per kilogramme. Last year, the land cost of producing 100,000 tonnes of sugar was Rs89.26 per kilogramme.

Sugar would cost roughly Rs123 per kg if all costs were taken into account.

The government has set the price of sugar produced in the country at Rs84.75 per kg as the ex-mill cost. To put it another way, the price difference between imported and domestic sugar is Rs25.15/kg.

Utilities would have to pay Rs33.25 more per kg of sugar to the Utility Stores than the stated pricing.

Because of this, government officials have decided to subsidise the price of imported sugar by selling it at Utility Stores for Rs85 per kg.

An international tender to buy and import 640,000 tonnes of wheat was also launched by TCP on Monday. The tender's price bid submission deadline is September 29.

For the time being, the government's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has authorised the import of 50,000 metric tonnes of sugar to keep the country supplied.

The ECC discussed sugar imports last month after learning that existing sugar reserves total 1.18 million metric tonnes and will be depleted by the end of October 2021.