KARACHI: Pakistan on Thursday lifted a ban on the import of non-essential luxury goods which was imposed amid declining foreign currency reserves two months ago, said the finance ministry, though the country decided to retain the ban on completely built up (CBU) vehicles, mobile phones and home appliances.
The commerce ministry imposed the ban on 38 items on May 19 against the backdrop of rapidly depreciating Pakistani rupee to control the country’s burgeoning import bill.
The banned items included cosmetics, crockery, pet food, chandeliers, headphones, music instruments and toiletries etc.
“In the wake of the substantial reduction in the imports due to the efforts of the government, the ECC [Economic Coordination Committee] lifted the ban on imported goods except Auto CBU, Mobile CBU and Home appliance CBU,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
Pakistan witnessed an all-time high trade deficit of $48.3 billion, which was 55.7 percent greater than the previous year, during FY22, with imports hitting $80 billion and exports at $31.8 billion.
The country’s finance minister Miftah Ismail predicted the imports would be around $4.8 billion in July, as compared to $7.87 billion in June.
“Imports in Pakistan as of July 25 were $3.758 billion,” he said in a Twitter post on Tuesday. “At this clip, our total imports are likely to be $4.824 billion. This number will be InshaAllah [God willing be] less than our exports plus remittance.”
Praising the government for lifting the import ban, Pakistani industrialists said the move would help resolve the problem of raw material shortage.
“The earlier decision had created a shortage of raw material, particularly of those items which are not available in the country, but now lifting the ban will resolve the issue of the imported raw material shortage,” Muhamad Suleman Chawla, senior vice president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), told Arab News on Thursday.
Chawla supported the decision to retain the ban on CBU vehicles, mobiles and home appliances while pointing out the government should manage the exchange rate parity between the US dollar and Pak rupee by effectively intervening in the market.
