Sugar price fixed at Rs 45 per kg

[LahoreEstate]

* GST on sugar reduced by 50% for three months
* No restriction on inter-provincial movement of sugar and wheat

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday fixed the price of sugar at Rs 45 per kilogramme (kg), inclusive of all taxes, for a period of three months.

Chairing a meeting at the Prime Minister’s House, the prime minister said the price was fixed for a three-month period starting from the first of Ramzan, adding that the general sales tax on sugar had also been reduced by 50 percent for this period.

Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Industries Minister Mian Manzoor Wattoo, Food and Agriculture Minister Nazar Muhammad Gondal, Interior Minister Rahman Malik, Minister of State for Industries Ayatullah Durrani, Punjab Food Minister Malik Nadeem Kamran and Senator Ishaq Dar were also present.

Secretaries of Finance, Commerce, Industries and Food and Agriculture, chief secretaries of Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan, food secretaries of Punjab, NWFP and Sindh, the TCP chairman and the sugarcane commissioner also attended the meeting.

Inter-provincial: The meeting also decided that there would be no restriction on the inter-provincial movement of sugar and wheat.

The prime minister directed the minister for Industries to ensure the availability of subsidised sugar at Rs 38 per kg at Utility Store throughout the country.

He also said support of provincial governments would be sought for devising an effective monitoring mechanism in this regard.

It was also decided that a meeting of the four chief ministers would be convened within the next fifteen days to chalk out a long-term strategy for determining the price of sugar.

Wattoo informed the meeting about his meeting with the representatives of the Sugar Mills Association on August 18.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said sugar would be sold at the Ramadan Bazaars at Rs 40 per kg throughout the province, adding that it would be available in one and 2.5 kg bags at the bazaars, Online reported.

Talking to reporters after attending a meeting of the sugar mills owners and sugar dealers, he said sugar would be sold at Rs 46-47 and 20 kg flour bag at Rs 200 in the province.

The chief minister also said the minister for industries had not consulted the provincial government before announcing the price of sugar in the country. sajid chaudhry/online

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg1_1