SBP directs banks to put on hold sugar exports by mills located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

According to Business Recorder, the State Bank of Pakistan has asked commercial banks to hold off on processing sugar exports from mills in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until the provincial government approves those overseas sales. The instruction appeared in a circular issued on Tuesday that concerns a 200,000 MT sugar export quota. Banks may still process export deals for eligible mills in Punjab and Sindh under their revised quotas, subject to applicable conditions, since both provincial governments have endorsed them.

Under the circular, banks will handle exports from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa mills only after the Ministry of National Food Security and Research passes on the provincial confirmation. That ministry had earlier communicated the revised province and mill-wise quotas, received from the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, to the SBP on October 09, 2026, together with corrected names for three mills. At the time of the circular, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had yet to endorse its quotas.

Earlier in September 2026, the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet permitted the 200,000 MT sugar export with certain terms, and the Federal Cabinet later ratified that decision.