Islamabad, January 07, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Friday lauded the decision of the government to import urea from China to calm prices in the market. The government has decided to import urea on an urgent basis to address the growing unrest among farmers in the country and bring stability to the urea market, it said.

In a statement issued here today, PEW Chairman Brigadier (retd) Muhammad Aslam Khan said that demand for urea in the country and the activities of profiteers and smugglers are increasing. He said that 50,000 tons of Chinese urea will reach Pakistan in February which will improve the situation.

Aslam Khan said that the production of urea in the country is about 600,000 tons. Last year, urea production was 634,000 tonnes, but 343,000 tonnes of urea was smuggled to neighbouring countries. He said that reforming the urea market ensure food security would be a better option than short-term measures like urea imports.

If the price of urea in Pakistan is kept at par with that of the neighbouring countries, then smuggling will end because it will become unprofitable for smugglers. He noted that if subsidy on urea is given to farmers instead of factories, there will never be a urea crisis in the country and it will decimate losses of gas companies which will have a positive impact on agriculture and many other sectors of the economy. By ending the gas subsidy for the urea producers, Pakistan can become a major exporter of urea, he said.

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