Pakistan : PSMA urges early approval of sugar sector deregulation policy
The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has urged the government to swiftly approve the sugar sector’s deregulation policy, saying it will ensure better prices for farmers. PSMA noted that last year’s non-interference led to improved grower returns and stressed that full deregulation would boost competitiveness and exports.
ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has stated that policy on deregulation of the sugar sector should be approved at the earliest so that sugarcane growers shall get best prices for their sugarcane crops. In a statement on Tuesday, a PSMA spokesperson said that last year sugarcane farmers got better rates for their crop due to the government’s non-interference. The cooperation of the governments of Punjab and Sindh alongwith the sugar industry further facilitated it.
It is pertinent to mention here that sugar mills have always operated below their crushing capacity. Unless the sugar sector is completely deregulated, Pakistan’s sugar sector will neither be able to compete with the international market, nor will farmers be able to get international rates. They will not cultivate more sugarcane resulting in lesser sugar production and the government may need to import it, burdening the national exchequer. The spokesperson said that since the government abolished respective zones of sugar mills, development and promotion of sugarcane crop has receded. He said that rice and maize crops sectors are already deregulated and are operating on free market principles. Their farmers are getting international rates and after the deregulation of rice crop, it is adding annually nearly $4 billion to the national exchequer through exports.
Deregulating the sugar sector early is in national interest. The sugarcane farmers and the industry will work together in a better way which will ultimately enhance the economic development of Pakistan.
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Source : The Nation
