Islamabad, Nov. 25 -- The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has held the government's flawed policies and administrative missteps responsible for the sharp rise in sugar prices across the country, dismissing allegations that mill owners are manipulating the market.

The association said that the closure of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) sales portals and transport restrictions between provinces had severely disrupted supply chains, driving up retail rates nationwide, as reported by The Express Tribune.

According to The Express Tribune, earlier, the Wholesale Grocers Association had accused sugar millers of deliberately creating an "artificial crisis." The group alleged that despite a record sugarcane crop and imports, mills had...