Government has denied plans of importing duty-free sugar in a bid to reduce prices that have skyrocketed to about Shs 5, 000 a kilogramme.
Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde while addressing the media today in Kampala said sugar production stands at 392,000 metric tonnes which is enough for the country. She also warned the media houses that had reported about the ‘importation of tax-free sugar’, saying they should rectify the ‘anomaly’.
Kyambadde’s remarks came shortly after the media had reported that President Yoweri Museveni, in a cabinet meeting he chaired two weeks ago, had approved the importation of tax-free sugar as a way of dealing with the high prices.
Further, it was reported that cabinet agreed to suspend taxes on imported sugar for at least six months under the proposed duty-free regime to radically bring sugar prices down and give government time to deal with the crisis facing the industry.
Meanwhile, about the soaring prices, Kyambadde laid blame on the long dry spell that affected the industry but promised that the prices will gradually reduce.
It is worth noting that in all neighbouring countries that have allowed importation of tax-free sugar like Kenya, a kilogramme costs the equivalent of less than Shs4, 000.
