Federal Secretary Commerce Muhammad Younas Dhaga said on Saturday that government is considering to impose Regulatory Duty (RD) on some more unnecessary and luxury imports to curtail the widening trade deficit. While, addressing the business community at Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), he said that government is taking several measurers to enhance exports and reduce the rising imports and as part of these efforts Regulatory Duty was imposed on several imported goods in November.
He said that increase in exports is top priority of the ministry of commerce and all possible steps are being taken to enhance exports to earn more foreign exchange for the country. "As the import of domestically produced goods is not in favor of the county; therefore RD was imposed on several items to facilitate the industrial sector," he added.
He said that government will not abolish import duty on food items particularly being produced in the country, and RD will be imposed on some more unnecessary and luxury imported goods to reduce the rising import bill. However, Dhaga made it clear that RD will be strictly confined to the luxury and unnecessary imports and will not be imposed on raw materials to support the local production that may help in reducing the trade deficit.
Secretary Commerce said that in order to address the exporters' complaints regarding refund payments, the federal government has already released Rs 25 billion for refund claims and entire pending refunds will be paid in six months. "After three years of declining trend, Pakistan's exports are witnessing upward trend and have increased by 10 to 15 percent in FY17. Major surge has been registered in Rice and textile exports," he added.
He said that the country's exports have continued upward momentum this fiscal year as well and likely to post 10 percent increase at the end of current fiscal year. "The government is aware of high cost of doing business and delay in refund payments and taking all possible steps to reduce the cost of production," he said.
Dhaga said that government has decided to setup 5 effluent treatment plans with investment of billions of rupees to support the domestic industry. He said that rising oil prices in the world market is a new challenge and government is compelled to pass on this increase to the general masses. Replying a question regarding fake associations, he asked KCCI to send the complaints directly to the DGTO for necessary action. Secretary commerce said that a state of the art IT tower is being established in Karachi news expo center and this project will create new job opportunities for the masses. On the occasion, Siraj Qasim Tele, Muffasar Atta Malik President KCCI, Haroon Farooqi former president KCCI and others also spoke.
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