By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: The central bank said it will lift a seven-month-long import ban on certain goods, including raw materials for the export industry, from January 2, 2023.
In a letter to the officials of authorized foreign currency firms, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Tuesday it had decided to withdraw its May instructions with effect from January 2, 2023, paving the way for acceptance of requests for import transactions already submitted to the SBP.
“Consequently, requests for import transactions already submitted to SBP-BSC pertaining to above referred HS Codes stand returned to the ADs for appropriate disposal at their end.”
The government banned the import of all non-essential luxury goods in May to avert a balance of payments crisis and stabilize the economy.
The country’s current account deficit has spiraled out of control and its foreign exchange reserves have tumbled while the Pakistani rupee has plummeted to historic lows against the U.S. dollar.
In August, the country lifted an import ban on certain luxury goods but taxed them heavily.
The central bank said the banks and authorized dealers “may prioritize or facilitate imports under essential imports, energy imports, imports by export-oriented industry, imports for agriculture inputs, deferred payment/self-funded imports and import for export-oriented projects near completion”.
“ADs (authorized dealers) may actively engage with all their customers to process their requests, keeping in view the customers’ risk profile and liquidity conditions prevailing in the foreign exchange market.”
The central bank listed priority import sectors.
Essential imports
These include goods that are related to essential sectors such as food (wheat, edible oil, etc) and pharmaceutical (raw material, life-saving/ essential medicines, surgical instruments including stents)
Energy imports
These constitute products related to the petroleum group (oil and gas) and coal (for power projects based upon merit order of the Ministry of Energy).
Imports by export-oriented industry
These consist of raw materials, input goods, and spare parts that are used by export-oriented industries.
Imports for agriculture inputs
Included in this category are items required as inputs for agriculture such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.
Deferred payment and self-funded imports
These consist of imports on a deferred payment basis, preferably from parents/ sister concerns of the importers, beyond 365 days, from the shipment date.
They also include imports funded by foreign exchange available with the importers raised through equity or project loan/ import loan from abroad, in accordance with the applicable Foreign Exchange Regulations.
Import for export-oriented projects near completion
The last category consists of the import of plant and machinery for export-oriented projects near completion where at least 75 percent of the project’s plant and machinery has already been imported.
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