(December 04, 2015)
Former President FPCCI Senator Haji Ghulam Ali and President PBIF, President All Karachi Industrial Alliance and First Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday said government should immediately allow export of surplus sugar as delay will damage the perishable item lying in godowns.
Millers have around 1.5 million tonnes of surplus stock of which half should be allowed to export on urgent basis, they said.
Sugar sector cannot export the commodity on its own due to price difference for which the cited reasons include support price of sugarcane and high input costs, said Former President FPCCI and President PBIF.
They said that a minimum of Rs 15 per kg rebate should be offered for export of sugar and government should ensure payment by provinces that are in habit of delaying the same.
Senator Haji Ghulam Ali and Mian Zahid Hussain said that sugar mills should be bailed out so that banks and planters could get their payments after starting crushing.
Alternatively, government can buy the surplus stock and export it according to its priorities.
They further said that last year the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government refused to abide by Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) decision to give subsidy on sugar exports putting sugar millers and millions of other dependent on sugarcane crop into problem.
Government should ensure timely payment of export subsidy which is imperative for the survival of the industry, they demanded.
