Pakistan is moving toward reducing government control over the wheat and sugar markets as part of wider economic reforms designed to eliminate market distortions and promote private sector participation, productivity, and efficiency.
According to reform plans linked to ongoing policy commitments, authorities believe limiting state intervention will improve market-based price discovery, particularly at a time of rising volatility in global food prices.
Under the proposed framework, the government will continue maintaining strategic wheat reserves, but wheat procurement will gradually shift toward the private sector at prices closer to international market rates.
Government releases of wheat stocks will only take place during officially declared emergency situations.
In the sugar sector, both federal and provincial governments are working on a new national sugar policy expected to be finalized by June 2026.
The proposed policy includes removing zoning and licensing restrictions, ending government-controlled sugarcane and sugar pricing, and allowing imports and exports under a transparent and phased mechanism.
Officials say the reforms are intended to move both sectors toward market-driven pricing systems while improving operational efficiency and reducing the financial burden created by state intervention.
