Pakistan on Wednesday allowed the private sector to import 0.5 million tonnes of white sugar from India, Finance Minister Hammad Azhar said, ending a near two-year ban on their import from the neighbouring country.
The country will also import cotton from India from June this year, he said. Previously, sugar, cotton and yarn imports were allowed from all countries, except India.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the finance minister said the Economic Coordination Council took the decision at its meeting during the day.
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“We have allowed the import of sugar but in the rest of the world too, sugar prices are high because of which imports are not possible. But in our neighbouring country — India — the prices of sugar are much less as compared to Pakistan so we have decided to reopen sugar trade with India up to 0.5 million tonnes for the private sector,” Dawn newspaper quoted him as saying.
He said the government estimated a difference of 15-20 per cent in sugar prices in India as compared to Pakistan.
