PAC halts 0.2 million-tonne sugar export, bars wheat imports without its review

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has put a hold on a 200,000-tonne sugar export that the Economic Coordination Committee approved on September 14, and has blocked wheat imports until its review is finished. Profit reported the panel will allow no sugar shipments abroad until it issues its own advice.

The Economic Coordination Committee's approval carried safeguards meant to keep domestic prices stable. The Sugar Advisory Board had signed off on the move after assessing consumption and stock levels. Sugar mills represented by the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) called the quota too small and sought permission to ship at least one million tonnes abroad. The association put stocks at roughly 2.6 million tonnes on August 31, 2026, against monthly use of 560,096 tonnes, leaving a projected surplus of about 1.25 million tonnes.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research has one week to brief the panel on the wheat crisis. An Auditor General of Pakistan report said farmer confidence weakened after Punjab, which had earlier bought roughly 4 million metric tonnes under the fixed support price, stopped buying wheat. The audit urged a thorough inquiry into the big closing inventory logged in April 2024 and into Punjab's later choice to skip procurement. Federal authorities had set Rs3,900 per 40kg as the floor price in the food year running from May 2023 to April 2024, but procurement fell short for farmers.