KARACHI: Sugar prices rose to record levels in various parts of the country on Monday, as members of the former ruling coalition continued to trade blame over who was ultimately responsible for the country’s dwindling stocks of the commodity.

The growers, on the other hand, hold the recently dissolved PDM government responsible for its failure to stop the menace of smuggling which, they claim, sent almost a million metric tonnes of the commodity across the border over the past year.

One kilogramme of the commodity was selling for Rs230 in Balochistan’s Chaman area, while shops in the central Punjab town of Arifwala were charging Rs185/kg, PPI reported. In Karachi, sugar prices fell by Rs2 to Rs176 per kg in the wholesale market, but the retail price of 1kg of sugar remained Rs190.

Last week, the caretaker government expressed alarm over depleting sugar stocks after a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Caretaker Cabinet was told that only 2.27 million tonnes were available in the country. Rising sugarcane prices and court orders were also seen as being behind the rising price of sugar.

However, the issue has also become a sticking point between former coalition partners, PML-N and PPP, with a senator accusing the former interior minister of facilitating sugar smuggling.

In a tweet on X, Senator Taj Haider of the PPP claimed that “Honourable Rana Sanaullah allowed 1.4 million tons sugar to be smuggled” and lamented how ex-planning minister Ahsan Iqbal had held his former cabinet colleague Naveed Qamar responsible for the crisis.

The issue surfaced on Sunday, when Mr Iqbal in an appearance on Geo News, claimed that Mr Qamar should be asked to answer questions about the export of sugar in previous months, and that he would be better placed to say how much sugar was available in the country’s stocks when his ministry gave the go-ahead for its export.

The previous regime, Mr Iqbal had said, was a coalition and the PML-N alone could not be held responsible for all ills during its time.

Apparently agitated by the challenge, Senator Haider maintained that Mr Qamar had officially allowed the export of around 250, 000 tonnes of sugar to help the finance ministry earn some foreign exchange, and took exception to the insinuation that his party colleague was somehow to blame for the shortage.

But growers aren’t convinced by either side’s argument; instead, they blame everyone part of the past government for the fresh crisis. Sardar Yaqoob Sindhu of the Anjuman-i-Tahaffuz-i-Kashtk­araran said it was almost exactly a year ago when the smuggling of the sugar started “under the nose of the government”.

“It was in August 2022 when we came to know about the smuggling,” he said. “We raised the alarm, approached every single concerned official and raised a hue and cry over media, but no one paid heed.”

In his words, a 100-kg bag was available at Rs8,400 in August 2022 and today it’s worth Rs1,7000 or Rs18,000. “We have reasons to claim that some 700,000 metric tonnes sugar have already border into Afghanistan and some 300,000 metric tonnes to 400,000 metric tonnes are dumped in godowns in towns along the border,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2023