Share the post "Pakistan’s Sugar Policy Loop: Export It, Import It, Re-Export It—and Make Citizens Pay"
Does Rs60 billion in additional FBR revenue prove the policy succeeded?
No. Better enforcement is positive, but additional revenue may reflect a mixture of improved compliance, new taxes and a higher taxable sugar price. FBR must publish the breakdown.
Did sugar mills make Rs300 billion in profit?
The Auditor General was reported as telling PAC that mills earned an additional Rs300 billion during the crisis. That should not automatically be called audited net profit; the underlying calculation and mill-level accounts must be released.
Is the 108,000-tonne re-export a separate new sugar export?
It is the remaining portion of the 300,000 tonnes imported by TCP. It represents 36% of the imported stock.
Should Pakistan completely deregulate sugar?
Pakistan should abolish discretionary import and export permits while enforcing strategic reserves, transparent stock reporting, farmer-payment rules and competition law. Deregulation without anti-cartel enforcement would be incomplete.
