LAHORE, June 29: The government will not allow import of raw sugar this year, but it was also conscious of the fact that free export might create a shortage in the country, Razzak Dawood, the federal minister for trade and industry, told reporters on Saturday.

The government, he said, was carefully monitoring the situation of stocks and projected consumption.

He said the sugar industry was asking for a rebate on export this year that could be recovered next year. But it had still to come up with a viable mechanism. Once a consensus formula emerged, he said, the government would look into the whole matter.