During media conference on Tuesday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen said money from rise of sugar prices not coming to me, neither he nor the sugar mills in the country would benefit from the government’s increased tax on sugar in the new budget.
Tareen, in response to a question, said: “This is a big misconception that people are spreading.”
He said that any additional revenue for an increase in sugar prices was going to the government, not the private sector.
The government in its budget for 2019-20 increased the tax on sugar from 11 per cent to 17pc, saying the move would result in a mere increase of up to Rs3.5 per kilogram.
PTI leader and former finance minister Asad Umar, however, had asked his party’s government to reconsider the increased tax on sugar and cooking oil in the federal budget. Umar had also called for an investigation as to why sugar prices are on the rise.
During the press conference today, Tareen also responded to a question regarding his role in the government: “I do not hold a position,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court’s verdict regarding his disqualification had stated that he could not do so.
Tareen was disqualified on December 15, 2017, for the misdeclaration under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution — the same provision under which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was held ineligible for life to hold any public office over the Panama Papers leaks case.
The PTI leader said that if he is called for advice, he would provide it, adding that Sahibzada Sultan had earlier told the press that he had invited Tareen himself.
Tareen said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had given him the responsibility for the agriculture emergency programme and he had also given the cabinet a briefing on the matter.
Later, during the press conference, the federal minister for national food security and research said that Tareen was sitting at the press conference on his request.
Sultan said that it was his third term in politics and he had never seen anyone who understood the agricultural sector in Pakistan better than Tareen.
