ISLAMABAD, May 26: The government has decided to distribute over 200,000 tons of sugar stocked by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) among the provinces to provide relief to consumers.

Well-placed sources said on Friday that TCP stocks would be off-loaded from June on no-profit, no-loss basis.

The sources said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had approved the proposal in principle to distribute the imported sugar in accordance with provincial governments’ demands.

The ministries of commerce and industry had already finalised procedures for disbursement of sugar stocks by the first week of June.

The sources also said that the TCP was importing more sugar and many shipments had already reached Pakistan and TCP warehouses had no space for further storage.

Sugar prices might have gone down if the government had off-loaded the TCP stock earlier in the market, the sources said.

They said that further distribution at district or tehsil levels would be the responsibility of the provincial governments.

Currently, the total domestic sugar stock stood at over 1.4 million tons. Of the total, the TCP had over 200,000 tons while the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) possessed a stock of around 1.1 million tons. The country’s private sector had a stock of around 100,000 tons.

When asked about the TCP supply to Utility Stores, the sources said that there would be no interruption in the supply.

According to the sources, the government was also considering to allow the private sector to open up shops all over the country to sell goods, including sugar, at subsidised rates.