Pakistan misses sugar sector liberalisation deadline set by IMF as one province holds out, NA panel told

Profit by Pakistan Today reported that Pakistan has failed to meet an IMF deadline for approving a national policy to liberalise the sugar market. Three provinces have accepted the proposed framework, while one still has reservations. Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal told a parliamentary panel on Thursday that talks with that province are ongoing, although he did not name it.

Under the condition set by the IMF, federal and provincial governments must agree on the policy, which then needs approval from the federal cabinet. It should cover licensing, price controls, import and export permissions, zoning and clear timelines for implementation. The benchmark required approval by June this year, and that target has passed without being met.

The federal government still controls sugar imports and exports, and it recently permitted shipments of 308,000 metric tonnes abroad. The Finance Ministry says work continues toward full liberalisation and that draft recommendations have been shared with the provinces. Bosal described implementation of the wider IMF programme as strong, but he gave no final status for the fourth review because talks are still underway.