ISLAMABAD: The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has delayed the opening of its sugar import bids to July 22, 2025, while sharply reducing the planned import volume from 300,000 to just 50,000 metric tonnes. The move comes amid mounting pressure from local sugar millers and criticism from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over policy violations tied to Pakistan’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The government had earlier promised to import five hundred thousand tonnes of tax-free sugar in order to restrain rising prices. This strategy was, however, reversed due to heavy lobbying by politically connected sugar mill owners-more than 80 percent of whom are connected to legislators. Behind-the-scenes agreement pushed the ex-mill price up by Rs 6 per kg to Rs165, thus improving the profits of millers although the retail rates (at Rs200 per kg) remained at the same level, i.e. predominantly above the official ceiling of Rs164 established in March by Deputy PM Ishaq Dar.
The TCP confirmed the policy shift through an official corrigendum. Meanwhile, sources at the Ministry for National Food Security revealed that millers “activated political networks” to halt large-scale imports and secure higher returns.
The IMF has spoken against the tax waiver on sugar imports as a violation of EFF conditions. It rejected Pakistan reason of a food emergency and threatened that the unsanctioned policy may cost the loan program as a whole that is already stretched due to frequent swings.
Although there have been attempts to regulate the prices in the market, implementation has been poor and retail prices of sugar have remained above official levels by approximately 20 percent with consumers being the most affected.
