ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed relevant authorities to expand a list of banned import items by adding more luxury goods to it, reported the local media on Tuesday, as Pakistan faces a growing current account deficit which has triggered serious financial challenges.
The country’s commerce ministry issued a list of 38 items, including mobile phones, cosmetics and pet food, in May while prohibiting their import. The government took the decision to reduce the import bill at a time when Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves were declining and its currency was fast losing its value against the US dollar.
As the government prepares to present the next federal budget on Friday, it plans to take more measures to protect its forex reserves from unnecessary consumption.
“The prime minister has given instructions to Ministry of Commerce, FBR [Federal Board of Revenue], and other budget makers to identify items for purpose of banning and slapping RDs [regulatory duties] in a bid to decrease import bills,” The News reported while quoting an unnamed official privy to the matter. “Number of items that will be added to the RD list or banned list have not been decided yet.”
The official said the government was trying to curtail imports by $6 billion in the coming budget, adding that it already expected to save about $3 billion on the import of COVID-19 vaccines along with reduced shipping costs and rents of about $2 billion.
“The government is considering measures to curtail imports by $1 billion through different tariff and nontariff barriers,” he continued.
Apart from banning luxury items, Pakistan also plans to control the import of goods by imposing or adjusting regulatory duties on a large number of goods.
Pakistan to expand list of banned import items amid mounting current account deficit — media
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Pakistan to expand list of banned import items amid mounting current account deficit — media
- Government prohibited the import of 38 luxury goods in May due to declining forex reserves
- Officials say Pakistan seeks to curtail imports by $6 billion in the coming fiscal year
Pakistan plans Benghazi consulate, lending legitimacy to Libya’s eastern authorities
- Libya descended into turmoil after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Qaddafi and has been divided into eastern, western authorities
- The UN-recognized government in Tripoli controls the west, while the Libyan National Army forces based in Benghazi hold the east and the south
KARACHI: Pakistan is in talks to open a consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that could give a diplomatic boost to eastern authorities in their rivalry with Libya’s west.
Libya descended into turmoil after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Qaddafi and has been divided into eastern and western authorities since a 2014 civil war. The UN-recognized government in Tripoli controls the west, while
Libyan National Army leader Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces based in Benghazi hold the east and south, including major oilfields.
Islamabad would be joining a small group of countries with a diplomatic presence in Benghazi. Haftar discussed the move with officials during an ongoing visit to Pakistan, the sources said.
Haftar met Pakistan’s army chief on Monday to discuss “professional cooperation,” the Pakistani military said. He was due to sit down with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday, the sources said, declining to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Pakistan’s prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The LNA’s official media page said Haftar and his son Saddam met senior Pakistani army officials “within the framework of strengthening bilateral relations and opening up broader horizons for coordination in areas of common interest.” It did not give further details and Reuters could not immediately reach eastern Libyan authorities for comment.
Pakistan’s air force said in a statement that Saddam Khalifa Haftar met Air Chief Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu to discuss expanding defense cooperation, including joint training, with Islamabad reaffirming its support for the “capability development” of the Libyan air force. Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Benghazi in December, where he signed a multibillion-dollar defense deal with the LNA, previously reported by Reuters.
All three sources said the decision to open a consulate in Benghazi was linked to the $4 billion defense deal, one of Pakistan’s largest-ever arms sales.
Libya has been under a UN arms embargo since 2011, although UN experts have said it is ineffective. Pakistani officials involved in the December deal said it did not violate UN restrictions. Haftar has historically been an ally of the UAE, which supported him with air power and viewed him as a bulwark against extremists, while Pakistan — the only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority nation — signed a wide-ranging mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia late last year.
