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blog： South Asia hit by sugar shortages

A massive shortage in sugar stocks in India and Pakistan has led to soaring prices and consumer unrest.

The Indian government has introduced strict limits on companies that stockpile sugar to check rising prices.

Shortages led Pakistan’s government to nearly double sugar prices causing public outrage ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan, which has now begun.

The price of raw sugar worldwide has increased to its highest level since 1981, as supply concerns grow.

India is the largest consumer of sugar in the world and the second largest producer, but poor monsoon rains have slashed output, forcing it to rely on imports.

One newspaper report says India’s sugar stocks have decline to 4.5 million tonnes - just enough to meet two months of domestic demand.

blog： Salaries falling

The Ministry of Finance figures showed that exports to the US fell 39.5% in July from the same month last year, which was worse than the 37.6% fall in June.

Exports to China were down 26.5%, while those going to the European Union fell 45.8%.

Gross domestic product grew 3.7% in the three months from April to June, fuelled by an improvement in exports in the period, but there have been concerns that those figures were boosted by stimulus spending and scrappage schemes.

There are also concerns that domestic demand remains weak, with average salaries falling and the unemployment rate at a six-year high of 5.4%.

Japan’s trade surplus still rose, because imports fell 40.8%, largely due to lower energy costs.