Sugar sent to Afghanistan was not smuggled but exported for first time: finance minister – Pakistan

Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that for the first time, the sugar sent to Afghanistan was not smuggled, but was recovered with the help of all law enforcement officials stationed at the border.

Providing upholding about the country’s economic progress, the Minister said that the arrival of remittances on February 2025 has reached an impressive 1 3.1 billion.

Addressing a press conference with Federal Minister for Information Ataullah Tarar, he said, “We estimate the arrival of B 36bn from the high remittances of all the time by the end of the financial year.”

Thanks to Pakistani Daspura, Aurangzeb acknowledged his precious contribution to the nation’s economy.

“From the Prime Minister, the government and the cabinet, we thank all our Pakistani brothers and the sisters working abroad and send them back home,” he said.

The Finance Minister also shared the results of several independent surveys conducted in the last quarter, including Gallup, ICC, overseas Sheepers, IPSOS, Price Water House Copers and recent people from the State Bank of Pakistan, all showed a significant increase in business and consumer confidence.

He noted, “This confidence shows the growing business activities, and promises that these positive trends are seen in different fields.”

Despite the daily fluctuations in the stock market index, Aurangzeb expressed hope for the overall direction of the market.

In particular, he pointed out that in recent months, 52,000 new investors have entered the market, which has indicated the growing interest in Pakistan’s financial sector.

In addition, the Finance Minister highlighted a major milestone in the capital markets, with seven initial public offerings (IPOs) on the stock exchange last year.

The Finance Minister said, “This is the highest number of IPOs in recent years, which has been surpassing four IPOs annually in the past decade.”

“These are very encouraging signs of development in terms of economic recovery and more dynamic, in terms of promoting the environment of the investor -friendly market,” he said.

Commenting on the ongoing reforms in the sugar industry, he noted that as soon as the counting of the counting of 2024-2025 began, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has implemented a new, better productive surveillance system for sugar mills.

The Finance Minister said, “The system includes five surveillance mechanisms, such as track and trace stamps, automatic counters, and video recording to increase transparency.”

In addition to these technical measures, he mentioned that FBR personnel have been deployed in sugar mills across the country to ensure accountability and reduce corruption.

Along with the presence of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Intelligence Bureau officers, as well as other law enforcement agencies, it reinforced the implementation of the system.

“The result is that the Chinese is now being sold to real distributors, and the supply chain is being significantly reduced,” said FM Aurangzeb.

The Finance Minister also highlighted the positive impact of these reforms on government taxes, and said that in the first two months of 2025, the sales tax on diabetes increased sharply compared to the same period last year, which is more than Rs 15 last year.

He added that this 54 % increase is a clear indication of the success of the government’s better monitoring system.

Explaining the implementation and effect of the production monitoring system, he said that for the first time, this year, the sugar was not smuggled but it was exported to Afghanistan.

“This is a very beneficial result. We need every dollar coming to balance our current account, “he said, calling development a very positive result.

During this season of diabetes, the minister said that the country will have 5.7 million tonnes of sugar besides stocks from last season.

He expressed confidence that it would be enough to meet the needs of the country through better management.