ISLAMABAD: The government and the sugar industry reached an agreement on Monday to bring down the sugar price.

Terming it a `big relief`, the ministry of national food security and research said in a statement that the new ex-mill price of sugar per kilogramme will be Rs165.

In the light of this agreement, the provincial governments will ensure availability of sugar to the people at low price.

The ministry of national food security was in discussions with representatives of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association on the current availability of sugar across the country, trends in its pricing and future strategies.

However, the government measures did not yield results, and price of the commodity continued to shoot up in the open market, reaching up to Rs200 per kilogramme.

The agreement between the government and sugar industry to reduce the sugar price was necessitated by the government`s decision to import 350,000 metric tons of sugar.

According to the ministry, thequantity has been determined in line with immediate market requirements and anticipated demand in the coming weeks.

The imported sugar will be of premium quality, meeting standard market expectations .

The rationale behind importing sugar through the TCPis to ensure transparency, quality control, and efficient government oversight.

To facilitate this process, the government has exempted all duties and taxes on sugar imports so that sugar can be made available to the masses at affordable prices and inflationary pressures can be eased.